Saturday, December 30, 2006

— Time: 1:43:13 AM EST

This week, Fenton Art Glass will celebrate 100 years of glassmaking in Williamstown. According to the company, the first piece made in the Fenton family’s Williamstown factory was back on Jan. 2, 1907. The company was founded in 1905.

The art, the business, and the family behind it all, should be an inspiration to us all.

There aren’t many companies celebrating 100 years of operation these days and it’s even more unique that the company has remained under the same family’s direction all of that time. It goes to show the level of quality and commitment that’s put into every piece of glassware that comes out of the Williamstown plant.

In the beginning, the family couldn’t have known the company would grow to what it is today. It’s the largest manufacturer of handmade colored glass in the United States and its pieces are collected world wide.

With the impact of the Internet, and the company’s partnership with the QVC television shopping network, more people than ever are exposed to Fenton’s unique products. This exposure has catapulted Fenton onto the national and international scene.

Yet, this locally owned and operated company never forgets its roots in the Mid-Ohio Valley. The long-time employer has supported dozens of causes in the community over the years and finds all sorts of ways to give back to its community — make that ‘communities,’ plural — whether it be Williamstown, Marietta, or Marietta College — really anywhere in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Not only is Fenton one of the area’s largest employers, it’s one the largest draws for tourists, and that helps to support the local economy on an even larger scale.

Fenton isn’t just surviving, it’s thriving. Its sustained success can be traced to a commitment to quality, to the marketing strategies that literally, in the case of QVC, helped to pave the way for the future, and a consistency that comes with generations of the same family handing down traditional values while inspiring new innovations at the same time.

Congratulations to the Fenton family on reaching this milestone and congratulations to all of the Fenton employees who continue the tradition of glass making at a level that can’t be matched