Glass Inc. - Reflections 1999-2019

As the Yates business grew, Bill continued to call on Robert. In the early 1990s, Yates entered the casino construction busi- ness. Yates called Smith in 1993 and said he needed a price on a bank of ten doors for the entrance of a casino project in Tunica, Mis- sissippi. “And I need it fast,” Yates said. Smith drove to the construc- tion site, calculated the price using the sources that could provide the quickest turn- around, and presented Yates with a $20,000 estimate. “Get it,” Yates told him. Smith didn’t even have a con- tract. By the time the casino was up and running, Smith and his crew had installed every mirror, every piece of glass, and every en- trance to the casino project. Every week, Smith’s crew was given new tasks. Then, the week before the casino was to open, Smith was stand- ing with Yates on the long ramp that connected the casino to land. The casino owner said, “This ramp is wide open. The wind is blowing through here. We need to glass in this ramp all the way down both sides.” Then the owner looked at Smith and said, “How quick can you get the material here?” Smith drove to Memphis and bought everything the supplier had in stock. His team fabricated it right on the casino site, cut the glass, and installed it — all before the grand opening the next Monday. From that moment on, the Yates team knew whom they wanted by their side when it came to a glass subcontractor. Rapid Growth Soon, Smith’s team was on site at many of Yates’s construction projects. Glass, Inc. installed the exterior windows, interior glass, and showers at Golden Moon Casino in Philadelphia, Missis- sippi. Soon, Smith had crews work- ing on the Alabama coast. Glass, Inc. worked on Beach Club Condominium (a Yates project). Then, work on the three-build- ing Caribe Resort began. “Before you know it,” Smith said, “we were working on al- most all the high rise condo- miniums along the Alabama coast.” Between casino/hotel con- struction and the condominium boom on the Alabama and Florida coasts, revenue at Glass, Inc. jumped during the early 2000s to the $15-$18 million range, firmly establishing Glass, Inc. as one of the largest glass companies in the South. Hurricane Ivan In early September 2004, a tropical storm gathered strength along the equator in the Atlantic Ocean. It started so far south, meteorologists didn’t have much cause for concern. They had no idea what was about to unfold. The storm grew into one of the strongest hurricanes on record. Ivan set a world record with 32 consecutive six-hour periods of intensity at or above Category 4 strength (sustained winds above 130 mph). The storm hit Gulf Shores, Alabama, in September 2004. The winds exceeded 130 mph; the tornado outbreak associated with Caribe (above) is one of 90 towers Glass, Inc. has worked on in Alabama and Florida. (Right) Hurricane Katrina devastated the Coast. 28