90 / 116
Founded in 1941 by William and Francis
Lorenz, and a member of PPAI since 1976,
Advance Corporation (UPIC: ADVANCE)
first operated as a rubber stamp and
engraved sign manufacturer in St. Paul.
Today the company, led by second-genera-
tion owner Glen Lorenz, also manufactures
Braille building signage and donor recogni-
tion products through its Braille-Tac™ divi-
sion, and metal dies for foil stamping and
embossing/debossing through its magnesium
die division.
But it’s the art glass awards produced
on-site that put a gleam in many customers’
eyes. “The beauty of artistic glass is that the
products are one-of-a-kind works of art. The
products represented are handcrafted by
highly trained artisans,” says Kathy Wilson,
vice president of sales and marketing for
Advance.
GOING FROM HOT TO
COLD in a matter of minutes
isn’t always an appealing charac-
teristic—unless you’re talking
about custom-fired art glass. In
that case, supplier Advance
Corporation in Cottage Grove,
Minnesota, is turning out some
very appealing examples.
88 •
PPB
• AUGUST 2016
CONNECT
FACTORY
FLOOR
ADVANCE CORPORATION CELEBRATES 75 YEARS OF PRODUCING
EYE-CATCHING AWARDS
By Jen Alexander
Etching
Excellence
FOUNDING DATE
1941
PRINCIPAL
Glen Lorenz
, owner
NUMBER OF ORDERS
FILLED PER YEAR
10,200
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Recipient of over 80
PPAI
Supplier Achievement Awards
in the past 25 years
SIZE OF PRODUCTION FACILITY
50,000
square feet
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
60-65
TYPES OF SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT
Laser-cutting equipment
Art glass warm shop
Resin casting equipment
Warm glass shop with kilns and
sandblasting units
MetalPhoto ® processing
equipment
Industrial ovens
Nitric and ferric acid etching
equipment