Saint-Gobain’s Corhart Refractories, a cornerstone of Buckhannon’s industrial landscape for over six decades, has been named the 2024 Business of the Year by the Buckhannon-Upshur Chamber of Commerce. The honor was announced at the Chamber’s award banquet on Thursday, March 7, 2025.
“Our 2024 Business of the Year was founded in 1927, through a joint venture between two major players in the U.S. glass industry,” Buckhannon Mayor Robbie Skinner said. “Eventually, Corning Corporation became the sole owner of the business now known as Corhart Refractories.”
Skinner shared how the company expanded to Buckhannon in 1961.
“The West Virginia facility would utilize a new production technique to produce bonded refractories used in the fiberglass and steel industries,” he said. “Rapid growth in sales and employment followed, and throughout the 1960s and 1970s, business grew.”
During the 1980s, the business shifted toward the fiberglass industry as steel declined. In 1985, the local management group purchased the facility in a leveraged buyout, then sold it about a year later to Saint-Gobain, a Paris-based corporation operating for more than 360 years and employing over 160,000 people worldwide.
“Since its opening in Buckhannon, Corhart Refractories has undergone numerous expansions and changes, but has been a constant presence in the Upshur County business community,” Skinner said. “They employ approximately 150 full-time workers and ship products around the globe.”
Approaching its 65th anniversary of continuous operation in Upshur County, Corhart remains a key player in the fiberglass and LCD markets. The Chamber’s recognition highlights the company’s longstanding impact on the local economy and its ongoing dedication to Buckhannon and beyond.
