Norwich ― Josh Burg stood Thursday in the center of the cavernous production floor of the much-heralded architectural glass manufacturing plant at 40 Wisconsin Ave., its multimillion-dollar machinery silent and cold.

“Just having a silent manufacturing plant is awful,” he said, shuddering his shoulders for emphasis.

It will not be silent for long.

Burg, the CEO of Glass Enterprises, Inc., based in Bensalem, Pa., this week completed the complicated purchase of the defunct Naverra Glass plant in the former Lightolier building in the Norwich Business Park.

“This plant is magnificent,” Burg said Thursday. “This is like the gold standard for glass plants in the country.”

The plant manufactures large glass panels for commercial buildings, medical facilities and schools. It takes in giant panes of glass and runs them through cleaning, heat tempering and insulation processes — fusing two panes together with air or insulation in between. One new process seals an ultraviolet bird-protecting film between the two panes. Each panel must be pristine, with no dirt specs, air bubbles or pitting.

Naverra, initially under the name, Solar Seal, announced it was coming to Norwich in November 2021, promising a high-tech glass manufacturing plant that could replace the recent loss of Freeport McMoRan Copper Products as one of the the city’s biggest taxpayers and Norwich Public Utilities ratepayers. The gigantic electric-powered furnace in the plant reaches temperatures of 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Norwich awarded the start-up company a $350,000 grant and two $350,000 loans from its American Rescue Plan Act grant while NPU installed high-powered utility lines to the plant.

City officials praised the outcome of the protracted negotiations between Naverra, Glass Enterprises and the city. City Manager John Salomone, Norwich Community Development Corp. President Kevin Brown and Mayor Peter Nystrom all stressed that the city’s money was used to help purchase the unique, high-tech machinery that made the Norwich plant so attractive to Glass Enterprises for its expansion plans.

Brown praised Burg for his persistence through the negotiations over the past four months. He said the plant is now poised to bring to Norwich all that was promised at the outset, and the city’s now $1,050,000 in grants still represented a ratio of $9 in private money invested for every $1 in city grant money.

“We invested in the buildout of this plant, because we knew it would bring job growth, grand list growth, tax revenues to the city and utility revenues to NPU,” Brown said. “The good news is, that is exactly what we are going to sustain.”

“We’re very pleased,” Salomone said. “It’s a family-owned business. Everything lined up. They were in the market to expand, wanted to get into a turnkey situation and wanted equipment that was state of the art and highly specialized.”

Naverra started operating in August of 2022, but failed to ramp up to full capacity. The company struggled financially, and by October 2023 had laid off part of its workforce, keeping some workers to try to finish commercial glass orders in process.

At the same time, Glass Enterprises had been looking to expand its operations, when Burg learned through industry publications that Naverra had filed dissolution papers with the state of Connecticut.

Burg visited the Norwich plant in November and immediately was steered to city officials. He met with NPU General Manager Chris LaRose, Brown, Nystrom and Salomone at City Hall.

Burg said he was impressed from the start with the city’s professional and welcoming approach. He had hoped for a smooth and quick purchase of Naverra while the plant was operating. But negotiations hit several obstacles he declined to discuss, and the plant was shut down in December.

Still hopeful, and to ensure the experienced, skilled staff would be available when Glass Enterprises moved in, Burg said his company paid 15 of Naverra’s former managers starting just before the December holidays until the plant could reopen.

Glass Enterprises completed its purchase on Wednesday, and machines were powered up by Friday. The plant will resume manufacturing commercial glass panels on March 25.

Burg and Glass Enterprises Managing Director Jeff Livezey arrived in Norwich on Wednesday and immediately contacted former Naverra workers. They hope to have 30 to 40 workers on staff by March 25 and well over 100 working there at peak operation.

Burg said the Pennsylvania plant has 115 workers and is smaller than the 180,000-square-foot Norwich building.

Glass Enterprises will hold a job fair this spring, especially seeking Norwich residents interested in working there, Burg said. The event is not yet scheduled.

The Norwich plant is one of only three in the United States that can handle 100-square-foot architectural glass panels, Burg said, and now is the only one that is a family-owned operation.

“We can do things here that no one else can do,” said plant manager John Lines, of Norwich.

Lines and Mike Hagen of Bristol, production manager, both worked for Naverra and said they are excited the plant is gearing up again. They are contacting former workers, most of whom want to return to the plant.

Both said they prefer to look ahead than behind at what Lines called “some poor financial decisions” by Naverra. Hagen said in November, the remaining workers were told there was a buyer and the employees would be working for them. They tried to finish some work that had started, but customers knew of the company’s difficulties and sought other vendors.

Christopher Burney of Norwich, a digital print leader, said it felt good to be back at the plant. He said he had a “minor layoff” when the plant shut down in December and returned on Wednesday, when Glass Enterprises took over.

“It’s a breath of fresh air to be under someone who knows glass and knows people,” Burney said. “They are a class act, and I’m just ready to get started.”

c.bessette@theday.com