Making iPhone glass in Kentucky: “We do it well”
Corning's Harrodsburg, Kentucky, employees shine on the global stage.
Kim Smith, a 36-year Corning employee, takes pride in Harrodsburg’s role in making phones for the world: “That's what we do. And we do it well.”
Kim Smith was in her early 20s when she walked into Corning’s Harrodsburg, Kentucky, plant in 1989. A single mother to an infant, she started her second-shift custodial job in that little brick building – and quickly realized she had more to offer.
Fast forward to today. The factory, lovingly known as “HaKY” by Corning employees, has expanded. Thanks to a $2.5 billion investment from Apple, HaKY will now be home to the largest and most advanced smartphone glass production line, and the facility will be entirely dedicated to manufacturing for Apple. And Smith herself has expanded her career, becoming a powerful platinum welder with 36 years of training colleagues around the globe.
“I’m very prideful of my work,” Smith says. “I’m prideful of this plant. We are a big family.”
Smith has trained Corning plant operators in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, but nothing compares to being home at HaKY, she says. In fact, that’s a sentiment carried by many of her colleagues. HaKY provides the opportunity to work in big tech in a little town – a town where everyone looks out for each other.
Jeremy Allen, Sheet Glass Operator, inspects product coming off the finishing line. 100 percent of the cover glass on iPhone and Apple Watch units sold worldwide will be made here as part of Apple’s $600 billion investment to revitalize American manufacturing.
A history of innovation
Opened in 1952, HaKY is Corning’s longest-running American plant and a staple of the Harrodsburg community. Founded to meet defense-production demand for the U.S. military during the Cold War, the facility has gone through a number of iterations. In the late 1970s, HaKY was an ophthalmic plant, making eyeglasses. It was during this period that Corning scientists developed the fusion draw – a propriety process that makes large, thin sheets of glass.
Corning CEO and Chairman Wendell Weeks and Apple CEO Tim Cook meet with Corning employees in Harrodsburg in September.
Over the years, Corning perfected its fusion process and paved the way for the creation of the cover glass for the first Apple iPhone in 2007. Eighteen years later, the partnership with Apple is stronger than ever. The recent announcement – first made at the White House in August this year, and then celebrated with Corning CEO Wendell Weeks and Apple CEO Tim Cook at the plant this September – has people in Harrodsburg buzzing, says Plant Manager Greg Karpowich.
“It's huge for this community. It’s huge for the employees and their families,” Karpowich says. “It just solidifies HaKY’s place in the world after 73 years, and now, hopefully, we can have 73 more years as well.”
Those 73 years have been infused with innovation, Karpowich says, touting the strong technical talent who not only manufacture but engineer new solutions.
“We’re not just relevant to American manufacturing – what we develop here is vital to the world,” Karpowich says. “On one line, we’re making glass for current phones, and on the line next to it, we’re developing glass for the next big thing.”
The small-town advantage
Harrodsburg is the kind of place where everybody knows everybody.
“You either know someone who works at Corning, or you’re related to someone who works at Corning,” Karpowich says. “We make this a great place to work because we want our kids to work here someday.”
Tommy Shirley is one such example. He is a third-generation HaKY employee, now a Corning Distinguished Associate, Corning’s highest employee recognition, with 36 years of service. His grandfather helped build the factory in 1952.
“We lived across the street from Corning, and I would walk my dad home from work every day at 4 p.m.,” says Tommy, a Maintenance Technician. “When I was about to graduate high school, he asked me what I wanted to do, and I said, ‘I want to work at Corning.’”
Tommy is now responsible for the services that keep HaKY running, such as the power, air, steam, vacuum, water, HVAC, etc. He’s amazed by the impact being made right across the street from his childhood home.
“We’re contributing to devices that are going to be used all over the world,” Tommy says. “Everybody has a phone.”
Nick Souder, Operations Department Head, is Harrodsburg-born-and-raised as well. With his wife and nine-month-old son, he currently lives two doors down from the house he grew up in, and four doors from his brother. His father has owned a business on Main Street for over 35 years.
Corning has had a presence in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, since 1952. HaKY is seen above in 1957 and today.
Souder manages day-to-day activities and works with operators that melt, form, and pack glass. The jobs at HaKY range from storeroom attendant (Smith’s current position) to warehouse operator to HR manager to engineer and so much more.
“I grew up with a lot of these people,” Souder says. “We understand that we’re all set up for a shared success. And even when we have tough conversations, we can also connect on a personal level and know that we’re in this together."
Community inside and out
HaKY colleagues also volunteer together and give back to their community. Employees’ contributions support educational opportunities, disaster relief programs, and organizations such as the United Way and Salvation Army.
Corning has collaborated with Bluegrass Community & Technical College for Girls Can, Too!, a program that aims to increase the interest of middle and high school girls, grades 7-12, in STEM fields, particularly related to advanced manufacturing, by offering hands-on learning opportunities.
“The girls get so excited, and their eyes light up,” says Rebecca Christopher, Senior Equipment Manager. “It's extremely rewarding.”
HaKY produces high-quality glass for Apple called Ceramic Shield. This advanced glass — the toughest in any smartphone — is the result of years of innovation by Apple and Corning engineers working closely together.
HaKY forever
As HaKY begins its next phase, employees like Souder look to the future with excitement.
“You talk to any of the operators on the floor here, they are so determined,” Souder says. “They love the job, and they love the people they work with.”
Smith feels the same way after all these years. Now, the baby she had when she started is grown. She holds tightly to her journeyman card she earned all those years ago and admits she has no plans of retiring soon.
“We’re here to stay, and we're going to grow,” Smith says. “That's Corning and Harrodsburg. That's what we do. And we do it well.”
Corning employees in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Corning leadership, including Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Hal Nelson, meet with HaKY colleagues to show their appreciation in September.
