American Glass Research, 603 Evans City Road in Butler Township. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle

A building that houses one of Butler County’s oldest businesses is now going to be labeled in history books as the place where would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at former President Donald Trump from during a campaign rally on July 13 at the Butler Farm Show grounds.

A chain-link fence separates the Farm Show grounds from the American Glass Research building at 603 Evans City Road in Connoquenessing Township, but now the two are forever connected after one spectator, Corey Comperatore, 50, of Buffalo Township, was killed, while David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, were critically injured from the bullets Crooks fired from his AR-15 style rifle.

Secret Service and local law enforcement personal have been trying to piece together what went wrong that day and in the days leading up to the event.

“We are fully cooperating with state and local authorities,” an AGR spokesperson said. “To protect the integrity of the investigation, we are directing all media inquires about it to those authorities.”

AGR employs about 190 people companywide, with testing facilities in Butler; Maumee, Ohio; and Delft, Netherlands.

Now, nearly 100 years after Frank Preston founded the company, AGR International has cut its Butler ownership ties after being bought by industrial solutions company Indicor.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., Indicor announced the acquisition in mid-March. The company hosts a portfolio of companies in 30 countries, including Alpha Technologies, Roper Pump Company and Logitech.

“AGR is a terrific business with clear niche market leadership, mission-critical solutions, deep customer intimacy, and a commitment to supporting their customers’ quality and sustainability needs,” said Indicor CEO Doug Wright.

Indicor is owned by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and was established in November 2022.

Led by president Sudha Jebadurai, AGR is an independent research and testing laboratory with a focus in testing, design analysis, analytical testing, consulting, training, inspection, product liability and auditing for the glass container industry.

Its management team will continue to lead the business from its Butler County headquarters and its name and brands will not change as a result of the sale, according to an AGR spokesperson.

“For the most part it’s business as usual,” an AGR spokesperson said about Indicor’s acquisition of AGR. “As far as jobs, I think we have remained steady with a little bit of an increase. There has been no job loss or layoffs.”

Initially established as Preston Laboratories, Preston sold the company and the name was changed to American Glass Research in 1962.

In the early days of the company, Preston and his team of researchers uncovered the fracture diagnosis, to establish glass strength performance characteristics and developed essential test procedures, many of which are still used to this day.

The name change came with an evolution in the company's capabilities, which include the manufacture of quality control and laboratory scale test equipment.