Vetrazzo® (the product) was invented in 1996 in Berkeley, California - back when "green" was just a color. Here’s the story:
A glass scientist working on his PhD, driven by his passion for the environment, gets the idea to recapture the inherent beauty of recycled glass by transforming it into a functionally superior building material. He teams up with a like-minded Bay Area architect and they form a partnership to produce Vetrazzo in small, hand-made batches for the local building community.
But word gets around about this stunning, innovative material and soon orders are coming from far away places like the Ritz Carlton hotel in Miami South Beach. Over the years, production moves from garage to warehouse to larger warehouse but try as they might, production capacity can’t catch up with demand.
Fast-forward 10 years. An enthusiastic Vetrazzo customer sees an opportunity to help bring sustainability to the surfacing market in a much bigger way. Armed with passion for her countertop, keen business sense and a large Rolodex, she sets out. It’s not long before a new management team is formed, capital is raised and a new company is built around the wildly successful Vetrazzo product.
In October 2006, the new team, under the banner of Vetrazzo, LLC, opens the doors on a brand new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in a recycled Ford auto plant on the Bay in Richmond, California. A month later, the new era kicks off by shipping the plant’s first Vetrazzo panel to actor and environmental activist Ed Begley, Jr. for installation on the nationally televised show, “Living with Ed”.
In an era where it’s hard to buy anything that’s not made overseas, we think Henry Ford would be proud.
