Three North American, independent glass fabricators, J.E. Berkowitz L.P., Westshore Glass Corp. and Craftsman Fabricated Glass, have formed Glass Fabricators LLC, a non-profit cooperative designed to provide the founding members with an outlet to share best practices, technical information, marketing initiatives and improved purchasing based on combined material volume requirements.

Arthur Berkowitz, president of J.E. Berkowitz, Bob Lawrence, president of Craftsman Fabricated Glass and Ron Brock, president of Westshore Glass make up the board of directors.

According to the announcement, executives from the three companies have spent the past year planning this initiative.

"We decided to take this initiative because of a recent trend of strong independents selling out to national concerns, which I am sure were good decisions for the companies involved," said Lawrence. "However, our interest is to build on the opportunities we worked so hard to create as independents. Innovation and producing great products are key to flourishing; so, we decided to join together to share best practices, new technology and other information so that we can enjoy the same benefits that larger corporations have."

"We are very excited about the opportunity Glass Fabricators LLC provides," added Berkowitz. "We look forward to an exciting exchange of information and having all three companies grow, while adding new equipment and facilities and developing specific initiatives and plans for improvement."

"I'm a great believer that the best way to compete is on quality. That's why the best practices part of the cooperative is the most exciting to me," said Brock.

All three companies will continue to be privately owned and operated.