PPG celebrates 125 years of growth, leadership and innovation

Bunch, PPG chairman and chief executive officer, during an April 23 webcast to nearly all PPG locations worldwide. “We began with one location, one product and a few hundred employees. Today we have operations in every corner of the world, producing thousands of diverse products in more than 60 countries and employing more than 44,000 people.”



Bunch highlighted PPG’s record first quarter sales of $3.7 billion, announced during its April 17 annual shareholders’ meeting, and said the company’s long-term success began with founders John B. Ford and John Pitcairn, whose vision was to control costs and produce a superior product.



PPG’s 125 years of innovation include coatings that protect cars from rust, chemicals that strengthen rubber and protect water supplies, paints that resist mildew and contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), optical products that lighten and darken automatically, military coatings for transparent armor protection, and fiber glass for alternative energy applications.



“Of course, none of our success could have happened over the years without the employees who make the products, the scientists who create the technologies, those who market and sell the products and those who manage our businesses,” Bunch said. “Also, the fact that we have rewarded our shareholders with uninterrupted dividends since 1899 demonstrates the value of our success.”



Many of the 1,000-plus Pittsburgh-area employees joined Bunch as he cut a cake modeled after PPG Place, where PPG’s corporate headquarters is located. Similar celebrations marked the occasion at other PPG facilities.



For more on PPG’s 125 years, visit www.ppg.com/125.



About PPG

Pittsburgh-based PPG is a global supplier of paints, coatings, chemicals, optical products, specialty materials, glass and fiber glass. The company has more than 150 manufacturing facilities and equity affiliates and operates in more than 60 countries. PPG’s sales in 2007 were $11.2 billion. SigmaKalon, a worldwide coatings producer based in Uithoorn, Netherlands, that PPG acquired Jan. 2, 2008, had 2007 sales of $2.9 billion. PPG shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: PPG). For more information, visit www.ppg.com.