PPG Industries, Inc. is an American supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It operates in more than 70 countries globally. A member of the Fortune 500, PPG is the second largest coatings company in the world by revenue, behind Sherwin-Williams. It is headquartered in PPG Place, an office and retail complex in downtown Pittsburgh, and is known for its glass facade designed by Postmodern architect Philip Johnson.
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History
19th century
Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company was founded in 1883 by Captain John Baptiste Ford and John Pitcairn, Jr., at Creighton, Pennsylvania.
PPG soon became the United States' first commercially successful producer of high-quality, thick flat glass using the plate process. PPG was also the world's first plate glass plant to power its furnaces with locally produced natural gas, an innovation which rapidly stimulated widespread industrial use of the cleaner-burning fuel.
PPG expanded quickly. By 1900, known as the "Glass Trust", it included 10 plants, had a 65 percent share of the U.S. plate glass market, and had become the nation's second largest producer of paint. Today, known as PPG Industries, the company is a multibillion-dollar, Fortune 500 corporation with 150 manufacturing locations around the world. It now produces coatings, glass, fiberglass, and other chemicals.
Pitcairn served as a director of PPG from its start, its president from 1897 to 1905, and chairman of the board from 1894 until his death in 1916.
20th century
Ditzler Color Company, established in 1902 in Detroit as an automotive color concern, was purchased by Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (now PPG) in 1928. On December 19, 1968, the company changed its name to PPG Industries, Inc., to show its diverse offerings. In the mid-1980s, Cipisa, a Spanish paint company was acquired and renamed PPG Ibérica and its CEO, Pere Nadal Carres, became CEO of PPG Ibérica. In 1990 PPG founded Transitions Optical as a joint venture with Essilor.
In October 2000, PPG Industries announced it had agreed to buy Courtaulds Aerospace for $512.5 million. Based in Glendale, California, the aerospace business has annual sales of approximately $240 million, employs 1,200 people. It manufactures sealants in Glendale, California and Shildon, England; coatings and sealants in Mojave, California; glazing sealants at Gloucester City, New Jersey; and coatings at Gonfreville, France. The business also operates 14 application-support centers located in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
21st century
In 2006, the company rolled out a two-tiered pay system which resulted in massive strikes at union locations across the country. The system, now in place company-wide for non-salaried employees, provides lower rates of pay and fewer benefits to those employed after the roll-out than those employed before the roll-out. In West Virginia, after a bitter five-month strike, the company still refused to eliminate the two-tiered system. In Lake Charles, Louisiana, the employment contracts of union employees had to be extended during a strike regarding the two-tiered system.
In 2007, the company was involved in a lawsuit on failing to disclose a purchase reduction of its two major auto glass customers. In 2007, PPG in Australia acquired Barloworld, producer of the Taubmans, Bristol and White Knight brands of paint.
On January 2, 2008, PPG acquired the SigmaKalon Group of companies for $3.2 billion from private investment firm Bain Capital, strongly increasing its paint and specialty coatings business. In 2008, PPG renamed their automotive glass division PGW (Pittsburgh Glass Works) and sold a majority of it to Kohlberg & Company. PPG retained 40% ownership of PGW until March 2016 when they sold their stake to automotive parts salvage company LKQ Corporation.
In 2012, PPG acquired Dyrup A/S, founded in Denmark in 1928 as S. Dyrup & Co A/S by Sigurd Dyrup and Axel Monberg and Ejnar Thorsen of MT Højgaard, some of whose brands are Dyrup, GORI (outdoor woodcare paint), and Bondex. In April 2013, PPG completed the acquisition of AkzoNobel North American architectural coatings business including Glidden, Liquid Nails, and Flood brands. 2013 revenue was US$15.1 billion, while assets were US$15.9 billion.
On April 1, 2014, PPG finalized the sale of Transitions Optical to its joint venture partner, Essilor International of France; however, PPG's technical center in Monroeville will continue to provide research and development services for Transitions. On November 5, 2014, PPG closed a deal, to purchase Mexican Consorcio Comex, S.A. de C.V. ("Comex") for $2.3 billion. In April 2015, PPG Industries completed the acquisition of REVOCOAT, a global supplier of sealants. Chuck Bunch remains Executive Chairman, while Michael McGarry serves as President & CEO.
In July 2016, PPG announced its sale of the flat glass business to Vitro, a glass manufacturer based in Mexico, for $750 million. In October 2016, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced the acquisition of the naming rights to Consol Energy Center by PPG; the facility will be known as PPG Paints Arena.
Financial record
PPG reported a net profit for each fiscal year in the period 2013 to 2022.
Environmental record
In November 2010, PPG agreed to remove 700,000 tons of toxic waste from Canal Crossing, a brownfield site in Jersey City, New Jersey where the company operated a chromium processing plant between 1954 and 1963. Stringent standards were agreed to in a federal court settlement.
Lime Lake Reclamation Project of PPG Industries in Barberton, Ohio, received special awards in the National Beneficial Use of Biosolids Program from Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) region 5 in 1998.
According to the book Strangers in Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild, Pittsburgh Plate Glass ordered employees to dump toxic tar in Bayou D'Inde in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
In sports
PPG has been involved in sports for numerous years, including being the primary sponsor for the CART PPG Indy Car World Series from 1980 to 1997. The company has been a partner of Team Penske in CART, IndyCar Series and NASCAR Cup Series since 1984. Since the race's inception in 1994, PPG has sponsored the trophy for the Brickyard 400. PPG also partners with Formula 1 racing teams; they have had a partnership with Williams F1 Team since 2017. PPG is the prime sponsor of John Force Racing and makes all their cars' paints and decals before each NHRA race.
On October 4, 2016, it was announced that The Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh would be giving up its naming rights, and transferred to PPG, making the arena named the PPG Paints Arena. PPG has been involved in snooker since 2024, starting with the title sponsorship agreement with WST for the Tour Championship. The title sponsorship deal was then extended to the Triple Crown's Masters event until 2027 with its Johnstone's Paint brand. GORI, one of its sub-brands in Scandinavian countries, also sponsors the German Masters from 2025.
Leadership
President
Edward Ford, 1883–1898
John Pitcairn Jr., 1898–1905
William Lewis Clause, 1905–1916
C. W. Brown, 1916–1928
Harry S. Wherrett, 1928–1941
Robert Lewis Clause, 1941–1944
Harry B. Higgins, 1944–1955
David G. Gill, 1955–1966
Robinson F. Barker, 1966–1967
Joseph A. Neubauer, 1967–1976
J. Earl Burrell, 1976–1984
Edward J. Slack, 1984–
Chairman of the Board
John Pitcairn Jr., 1898–1916
William L. Clause, 1916–1931
Clarence M. Brown, 1931–1955
Harry B. Higgins, 1955–1957
E. T. Asplundh, 1957–1966
David G. Hill, 1966–1967
Robinson F. Barker, 1967–1979
L. Stanton Williams, 1979–1985
Vincent A. Sarni, 1985–