Glasslam N.G.I. Inc., headquartered in Pompano Beach, Fla., has announced worldwide expansion plans for the company’s Air-Tight™ insulating glass foam spacer products. Glasslam has approved the investment for three new manufacturing facilities.

Among the new facilities is Air-Tight UK Ltd. in Kent, UK. This factory will service existing and new accounts in the European market. Air-Tight™ UK Ltd. is scheduled to open this summer. According to information from the company, the first of three extruding lines are almost complete and staff training currently is underway.

In the third quarter of 2010 the company plans to open Air-Tight™ Asia Ltd. in Kowloon, Hong Kong. This new facility, in partnership with Glasslam Asia Ltd., will produce foam spacer products for use in Asian markets.

Completing the company’s 2010 expansion plans will be the fourth quarter addition of a new Air-Tight™ foam spacer plant in the Southeastern United States. Site search is underway in the Carolinas for the best location for the new facility. The company’s new Air-Tight™ Smart Edge™ will be the focus of the new operation.

This last announcement follows a March 14 editorial in The Bahamas Weekly, in which Steve Howes, chief executive officer of Glasslam N.G.I./ Fenestration and Glass Services Ltd. announced that FGS would be closing its facilities in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, and relocating that facility to North Carolina.

Howes attributes the closure to challenges in working with the Grand Bahama Power Co., writing, “Ever since we started to build our factories and then opening and running of our business on this island we have been tricked, lied to, overcharged and had our equipment destroyed over and over again to the point of having to run on our own generator to power our factories.”

He further notes, “… One of their lawyers has sent us a threatening letter and a cease and desist demand stating that we can not run our own generator to power our factories and yet they (the power company) can’t supply us the power we need without spiking our equipment and stopping our production.”

Howes says that the company will retain a small satellite window factory on the island but the closure will mean the loss of more than five hundred jobs.

The factory has built hurricane protective windows, security glass and decorative glass for doors for three years on the island.