A Glass Advocate Interview with Kimberly Howard Kimberly Howard By Ed Conn As I was preparing to put the fi nal layout together for our issue devoted to the Glass City, my wife and I had the opportunity to break bread with Kimberly Howard, her husband John, and other friends. Kim recently retired from Owen Corning after 25 years. She started her OC career in fi nance then moved to manufacturing, running plants in the insulation business, as a General Manager, and fi nally integrating companies Owens Corning bought in Europe. Kim is a glass advocate, like the many I have met since moving to the Toledo area in 2012. There is a certain twinkle in the eye of a glass advocate when they start sharing stories of the product that made Toledo. Kim of course is no exception. Kim began to dive into the story of Owens Corning, which invented fi berglass in the late thirties with a joint venture between Corning Glass and Owens-Illinois. Owens Corning Fiberglass became a separate entity and glass plants began to spring up in the US and Canada, several of which of which Kim herself later worked in. Kim pointed out that many people think of fi berglass as insulation, but that glass as a reinforcement or material substitution is also a huge business. Glass fi bers are used as a substitute for steel in cars, for wood in windmills and boats, and even for paper. Glass fi bers as a reinforcement or material substitution provide the benefi ts of safety, light weighting, environmental and longevity. The fi rst fi berglass boats and car panels were made right here in Ohio. Kim shared that Owens Corning has started producing glass fi ber rebar to replace steel rebar. With fi berglass rebar, bridges could live quite a bit longer as they have no corrosive properties compared to steel. Some bridges in Toledo are starting to test this material. Fiber glass is used throughout the home environment as well: as an input material in asphalt shingles, as a facer over gypsum board for use in bathrooms to avoid mold, and in tubs and showers. As a Toledo native, Kim found herself enthusiastically raising her hand to represent OC in several community supported projects. One in particular, involved the use of pink Foamular extruded polystyrene to insulate the fl oor from the ice in the Huntington Arena, which was designed as the fi rst new LEED sports arena in the United States. Owens Corning provided building science input and material for the project. Kim’s next life chapter will include more time as a community board member and yoga instructor. The Howards have a property management business Red Doors of Toledo that includes a community house in the OWE, which is home to Food Not Bombs. When I asked her, what does glass mean for Toledo, Kim said: “Opportunity. Creativity. Innovation. Our glass industry and glass art community continue to reinvent themselves. Glass has longevity and will most likely be here in Toledo for decades to come.“ Glass brought me here, as I followed the woman who would become my wife to Maumee for her job as VP of Global Marketing for O-I. It was such an honor to work on this issue, and to be in awe of the people and companies that made Toledo and keep Toledo so dang cool. The Buck Starts Here Toledo Streets and its vendors are a powerful, community driven solution to the problem of homelessness. Our vendors earn their way out of their individual situations through a collaboration of journalism, local business partners and their own hard work. Use these four steps to be a part of the solution. Meet Vendors Buy a Paper Get Informed Take Action • Vendors -- the people who sell the paper -- are at the core of Toledo Streets' mission. Each year more than 70 indiviuals work as vendors with Toledo Streets. At any given time, more than 25 vendors are at work, in the rain, snow, or heat. Vendors play an active role in the management of TS, meeting regularly to discuss issues of concern and even serving on our board. • With the money made selling the newspaper, vendors are able to secure basic needs, independence and dignity, and work toward obtaining housing. Vendors buy papers for a quarter and sell them for a $1, keeping all income and tips for each sale. Toledo Streets tries to tie its editorial to three basic principals: • Inspiring Hope, Fostering Community, and Cultivating Change. We are a member of INSP, our global organization of street papers around the world which provides us with content relevent to social justice, homelessness, and street community around the world. • Donate to the organization and give vendors experiencing homelessness and poverty a hand up. It supports not only the paper but also issues throughout NW Ohio. • Volunteer your time and expertise and help the organization grow. • Share Toledo Streets with your network, and tell people about the organization. Page 3
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