Owens Corning is investing over $200 million into their Kansas City, Kansas Manufacturing Facility in the Fairfax Industrial District. Owens Corning is a unionized production facility, the members are part of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local IPW1. Owens Corning is located at 300 Sunshine Rd, Kansas City, Kansas.
“Owens Corning is investing in the continued development of a flexible and cost-efficient U.S. fiberglass insulation network through the addition of a new line within its Kansas City, Kansas manufacturing facility. This insulation capacity, which is expected to come online in 2027, will incorporate advanced technology to produce both light and heavy density fiberglass products with an improved cost structure. The new line will also provide production flexibility to increase residential insulation capacity across the network,” said Owens Corning in a written statement.
This is one of the largest investments into the plant and industrial district in decades, alongside the about-to-begin retooling of the General Motors Assembly Plant.
“Engineering design, including the level of automation, is still being evaluated so it’s difficult to say how many employees will be required at this time. We anticipate employment opportunities for the new line and are committed to investing in the workforce and economic development of Kansas City,” said Owens Corning in a written statement to The Labor Beacon regarding a question regarding an increase in staffing at the facility.
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
