CertainTeed, a local manufacturer, recently celebrated its 35th Anniversary.

Located in Chowchilla, California, CertainTeed has been a faithful employer in Madera County since 1979, currently employing 178 people.  They have 24 employees that have worked at the Chowchilla plant since the year it opened, another 50 employees have worked at the plant 20 years or more (together totaling 40% of their employees).  The manufacturing company makes high performance insulation products.  Its parent company, Saint Gobain, inducted the Chowchilla plant into the Millionaires Club, which recognizes manufacturing facilities for more than one million hours worked without a lost time accident.  Below are other significant facts about the facility:

1.     The plant is located on 152 acres and has 537,000 square feet under roof.
2.     The Chowchilla facility has produced over 5.75 billion pounds of insulation since it began production.
3.     The Chowchilla facility produces enough insulation in one day to insulate 250 average-sized homes.
4.     The plant’s furnace melts approximately 300,000 recycled bottles per day.
5.     The insulation produced, saves the consumer 7 times the energy it takes to make it.
6.     The plant uses enough electricity in one day to power 180 average-sized homes for one month.
7.     The plant uses enough natural gas in one day to heat 9,000 average-sized homes for one month.
8.     The plant has a self-contained water and sewage system, and is a zero-discharge facility.
9.     Millions of dollars are spent locally with contractors and suppliers each year for raw materials, maintenance, and improvement projects.
10.     The plant primarily ships product to states west of the Rocky Mountains. However, they have shipped products all over the world.

It was a treat to meet the employees and have a chance to tour the plant, below are some pictures of the facility.

Insulation on the production line

Packaged insulation