Mechanical aptitude leads to engineering career
Charleston native Glenn Anderson is part of the engineering team constructing the new PGA production plant for Kureha in Belle. When the plant is completed, he will serve as reliability manager, responsible for keeping the plant running safely and smoothly.
As a teen, Anderson repaired bikes in a local bicycle shop. His father recognized his youngest son’s mechanical aptitude
and offered him the chance to go to college and study engineering.
Anderson enrolled at what is now West Virginia University Institute of Technology. In 1980, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering – and a new bride, the former Linda Fish.
After graduating, Anderson worked for a chemical company near Wheeling. A chance for advancement took him to South Carolina in 1990 and to North Carolina in 1995.
“With my father, a sister and brother still living in Charleston, and my wife’s parents still living in the upper Kanawha Valley, we returned to West Virginia often,” Anderson said. “The visits were focused on seeing family, but we did fit in some West Virginia whitewater rafting and skiing with the kids.”
While in North Carolina, Anderson heard that global specialty products firm Kureha Corporation had achieved a breakthrough in the high-volume, cost-effective manufacture of PGA. The project became irresistible when Anderson learned that chemical industry colleague Tom Provost was leaving to become manager for Kureha’s new PGA plant – in West Virginia.
When Kureha began looking for engineers, he applied.
Said Anderson, “Kureha PGA is a very exciting project, an opportunity to work with some great people – and a chance to go back home to West Virginia.”
Catherine Zacchi lives in Mineral Wells and works for Commerce Communications. She enjoys biking on the North Bend Rail Trail in Cairo.
Contact: catherine.m.zacchi@wv.gov