To get a sense of how hard the economic collapse impacted PPG Industries Inc., consider its automotive glass facilities in Troy, Mich., close to the heart of the nation's battered car industry.

"Our headquarters there is now half empty and I don't think we'll ever use the other half again," Robert Dellinger, the company's chief financial officer told investors earlier this month at an industry conference in New York.

Though Mr. Dellinger said PPG is upbeat that a post-recession recovery is already under way, the company took some drastic measures including job cuts and other cost reductions to help weather the downturn.

Now it's hoping those measures make a difference when the economy finally emerges from a recession.

"Companies have cut back in a variety of ways: layoffs, reductions in 401(k) contributions, and closing manufacturing facilities," said Pete Mendes, audit partner in the Pittsburgh office of KPMG, a tax and advisory firm.

As signs of a recovery begin to sprout, "There is concern clearly over what are the long-term effects of the cost-cutting measures," he said.

In a recent survey by KPMG of 64 Pittsburgh-area business executives and board members, 64 percent said they didn't expect investment, employment and productivity to return to pre-recession levels until 2013 or 2014. Twelve percent said a full recovery might not occur until 2015 or 2016.

A Slow Recovery

As part of a weeklong series, Post-Gazette business reporters are examining the economic recovery and its impact on different facets of the region.

Sunday: Recovery from recession likely to take a while despite signs of life

Today: Big corporations, such as PPG, had more resources to weather the recession and are ready to embrace the recovery.

Wednesday: The Obama administration is emphasizing the importance of small business to the recovery, although Adams Manufacturing can attest that they face a lot of challenges.

Thursday: Economic development organizations are finding sources of money are harder to come by as the need has increased. But local development groups have found ways to be creative.

Friday: Individuals could be the last to experience the recovery as unemployment is not expected to improve for a while.

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The respondents included representatives from small, medium and large businesses, but they shared the same concerns, said Mr. Mendes.

"I think what they've seen is that even though there are some signs the economy is improving, like the stock market doing well in recent months, there are still signs the economy is struggling: unemployment is still high and manufacturing industries have shut down.

"People believe this isn't just a short-term recession."

Like many other big industrial companies, one of the steps PPG took to restructure was to shutter plants in the United States and Europe. But it also continued its strategy of focusing on global expansion and growing its coatings and specialty chemicals rather than struggling segments such as auto glass.

"The key has been transformation of our portfolio," Mr. Dellinger said in his New York presentation.

The strategy to emphasize coatings and specialty products started prior to the recent recession. In 1995, coatings, opticals and specialty materials comprised 44 percent of PPG's sales. Now they account for 85 percent of the business, he said. PPG's total revenues last year were $15.8 billion.

As for global growth, which has been targeted particularly in Asia, the company has reduced its North American sales from 74 percent of all revenues in 1995 to 46 percent today.

It made its largest acquisition ever in 2008 with the $3.2 billion purchase of Dutch paints maker SigmaKalon.

Coatings and specialty units, such as optical lens maker Transitions, "are growth businesses," for PPG, Mr. Dellinger said, as opposed to automotive glass, which is among the company's "challenging segments."

While the outlook isn't optimistic for that business, the company's other glass segments could benefit from an upturn next year in the construction markets, especially if builders demand solar windows and other energy-efficient products, said Mr. Dellinger.

"That would be a big, potential market for us, but we're not holding our breath."

PPG's restructuring, which included cutting 2,500 jobs or 6 percent of its global work force, is on track to save the company $150 million this year and $100 million in 2010, he said.

At Alcoa, the company's restructuring plans this year included slashing 13,500 jobs, or 13 percent of its work force, eliminating its 401(k) savings plan match and cutting the stock dividend. It already has realized results with a third-quarter profit and better-than-expected third-quarter sales after three consecutive quarterly losses.

Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa's chief executive, said the aluminum maker was in "excellent shape to benefit when the market recovers."

Like Alcoa, Eaton Corp. stopped its 401(k) match. The Cleveland-based company with an electrical segment based in Moon, also required employees to take unpaid furloughs and cut out merit raises to save cash.

Jerry Whitaker, president of the Americas Region for the Electrical Sector at Eaton's Moon offices, is confident those measures were short-term and that the company's backlog will sustain it as the economy recovers. He also sees bright signs in reports that show improvement in the housing market, and the possibility of federal stimulus dollars creating jobs and projects for Eaton and other companies.

"We are not going through a major downturn in 2010," he said in an interview earlier this month. "It will be another tough year. ... And in 2011, I really expect the business to regain its footing and have traction."

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