Corning Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Blacksburg Ceramics Plant

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Corning Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Blacksburg Ceramics Plant

Corning Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Blacksburg

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Environmental Technologies
Corning Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Blacksburg Ceramics Plant
Corning Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Blacksburg Ceramics Plant
CORNING, N.Y. | Corning Incorporated | October 31, 2013

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) this month celebrated 25 years of manufacturing automotive ceramic substrates at its Blacksburg, Va., facility. The substrates have prevented billions of tons of harmful pollutants from entering the air, allowing millions of people to breathe easier as a result.

Corning’s Blacksburg plant joined the campaign for cleaner air in 1988 when it reopened as a ceramics facility. It was originally built in1965 to produce flat glass for windshields and cooktops but closed in 1984. Since reopening, the plant has expanded twice.

“The Blacksburg facility serves as a manufacturing Center of Excellence for Corning,” said Mills Kenan, vice president and manufacturing manager, Corning Environmental Technologies. “As the global auto market continues to expand and regulations tighten, manufacturing efficiency is critical for sustained growth.”

During the last quarter-century, the plant has produced more than 450 million standard, thin-wall, and ultrathin-wall substrates. Corning substrates are technology leaders and can be found in automotive catalytic converters throughout the world.

“Our substrate technology has been recognized as a revolutionary invention in mobile emissions control,” said Hal Nelson, division vice president and business director, Corning Environmental Technologies. “Employees at the Blacksburg plant should take great pride in knowing they help provide cleaner, healthier air around the globe.”

In the early 1970s, Corning invented the cellular ceramic substrate now used in catalytic converters of automobiles, buses, and trucks. When coated with a catalyst, the substrate converts noxious exhaust gases into harmless gases and water.

During the past 40 years, Corning has continually developed its cellular ceramic technology. Today, the company holds more than 600 patents for emissions-control products and processes that are used in gasoline, diesel, and alternative-fuel vehicles, as well as stationary applications.

In addition to the Blacksburg manufacturing plant, the company also produces cellular-ceramic products at plants in Erwin, N.Y.; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Port Elizabeth, South Africa; and Shanghai, China. Corning has invested more than $35 million in improvements to the Blacksburg facility throughout the past decade and continues to invest in capabilities to help the plant maintain a competitive edge in the emissions-control industry.

Corning last month commemorated the 40-year anniversary of its Erwin Manufacturing plant and its Environmental Technologies business as a whole.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), which are based on current expectations and assumptions about Corning’s financial results and business operations, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include: the effect of global political, economic and business conditions; conditions in the financial and credit markets; currency fluctuations; tax rates; product demand and industry capacity; competition; reliance on a concentrated customer base; manufacturing efficiencies; cost reductions; availability of critical components and materials; new product commercialization; pricing fluctuations and changes in the mix of sales between premium and non-premium products; new plant start-up or restructuring costs; possible disruption in commercial activities due to terrorist activity, armed conflict, political or financial instability, natural disasters, adverse weather conditions, or major health concerns; adequacy of insurance; equity company activities; acquisition and divestiture activities; the level of excess or obsolete inventory; the rate of technology change; the ability to enforce patents; product and components performance issues; retention of key personnel; stock price fluctuations; and adverse litigation or regulatory developments. These and other risk factors are detailed in Corning’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the day that they are made, and Corning undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events.

About Corning Incorporated
Corning Incorporated (www.corning.com) is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics. Drawing on more than 160 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Corning creates and makes keystone components that enable high-technology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications and life sciences. Our products include glass substrates for LCD televisions, computer monitors and laptops; ceramic substrates and filters for mobile emission control systems; optical fiber, cable, hardware & equipment for telecommunications networks; optical biosensors for drug discovery; and other advanced optics and specialty glass solutions for a number of industries including semiconductor, aerospace, defense, astronomy, and metrology.

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