Stronghold Glass Cuts Ribbon at New Location
The Wells County Chamber of Commerce staff and Ambassadors held a ribbon cutting at the new location of Stronghold Glass, 1325 W Wiley Ave in Bluffton. Owners Bart and Tara Frauhiger purchased the building in December 2020.
Bart and Tara Frauhiger operated a dairy farm south of Bluffton and decided to change occupations due to the increased demand running the operations while managing a family. Bart and Tara purchased Bluffton Glass from Rocky Giltner in December 2018, which was located on State Road 1. “I had worked for Rocky in the past and really enjoyed the line of work. I got a lot of satisfaction working with the customers and when Rocky decided to sell the business, we pursued the opportunity and it worked out really well,” said Bart.
Bart and Tara decided to change the name of the business to Stronghold Glass and due to a pending sale at the State Road 1 building a new location needed to be found. “We looked for a few months and this building came up and it has been a good fit for our needs,” explained Bart. “This was a great building to walk in to.”
A few modifications needed to be made such as remodeling the office space, adding garage doors, a shower display, and glass storage area. “We made a big investment in a commercial saw to cut storefront glass, which has a digital readout and is as precise down to a one hundredth of an inch,” said Caleb Schwalbach, Shop Manager. “This allows us to customize projects and be a lot more functional.”
“The space at this location is more centralized and functional for us than before,” stated Bart. “We can be a lot more productive with projects.”
Bart explained that Stronghold Glass does a lot of service work for both residential and commercial. “People have a need for our services and products whether it is a mirror, glass shower doors, window addition or replacement, windshield replacement for vehicles, or commercial storefronts. There seems to be a demand and business owners need commercial doors kept up, repaired, and replaced as well. We do good work and have a lot of repeat customers.”
Stronghold Glass employs five people; however, they are always seeking additional help, such as installers. “We are in growth mode and it has honestly stretched us to keep up with projects that need to be done, which has been a great problem to have but we are looking for good help,” said Bart.
Tara shared, “our community is wonderful at embracing new businesses and owners and we all try to support and help one another. People are very loyal; we are very thankful for our community.”
Stronghold Glass will be hosting a Grand Opening Celebration on May 15 from 11am until 4pm with food and activities. “We wanted to open up the shop, invite our customers and the community, and make people aware of what we do and what we offer,” Bart said. “We want to show thanks and we are always looking for new relationships to form.”
Bart wants the community to know, “we really care, want to do an honest job, and be fair. We will treat our customers right and add value to whatever job we do for them.”
Pictured in photo left to right:
Erin Prible, Wells County Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director
Heather Morgan, National Oil, Chamber Ambassador
Alyssa Sponseller, Archbold & Lewis, Chamber Ambassador
Erica Lehman, Coldwell Banker-Holloway, Chamber Ambassador
Angela Pempsell, Stronghold Glass
Jessica Beste, American Mortgage, Chamber Ambassador
Renee Reinhard, Stronghold Glass
Sandy Garcia, Republican Party, Chamber Ambassador
Kevin Pritchard, Ruoff Mortgage, Chamber Ambassador
Whitney Schwalbach, Stronghold Glass
Caleb Schwalbach, Stronghold Glass
Bart Frauhiger, Stronghold Glass
Angie Topp, American Mortgage, Special Events Committee
Tara Frauhiger, Stronghold Glass
Anne Frauhiger, Stronghold Glass
Kody Kumfer, Forgotten Children Worldwide, Chamber Ambassador
Tanya Girod, Stronghold Glass
Vivian Girod, Stronghold Glass
Rob Lyons, Bluffton Regional, Chamber Board Vice President