Simon Pearce

Simon Pearce is an Irish-American entrepreneur in glassblowing and pottery, who learned his trade in Kilkenny, Ireland.

Business development

Pearce located his first US factory, in Quechee, Vermont in 1981. This site, which is powered hydroelectrically by the Ottauquechee River, became a showroom, restaurant, and glass-blowing demonstration facility. The New York Times described him as a prominent American designer of glassware, and his works have been given as gifts to foreign dignitaries and to presenters at the Academy Awards.

Pearce's company headquarters is in Windsor, Vermont, another manufacturing facility is in Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. His company has retail outlets, sometimes with associated restaurants, on both coasts of the US.

Personal life and family

As of 2010, Pearce reportedly maintained a home in Norwich, Vermont. He and his wife, Pia, have four sons. Their youngest son is Kevin Pearce, a snowboarder, who was seriously injured in 2009 while training for the Olympics. Kevin is the subject of the 2013 HBO film The Crash Reel.