LEWISTON – Global competition has claimed another local manufacturer.

Paragon Glass Works, which produced components for automobile lights, closed its doors earlier this month. The company stopped production on March 26, unable to compete against the low wages of its Asian competitors.

“It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” said William Lagerson, president of Paragon. “Facing all those people in a meeting and telling them that we were closing.”

Employees of the glass manufacturer are eligible for federal retraining programs. Lagerson said he thought a number of the 30 or so former employees were taking advantage of that opportunity and hoped they’d find jobs elsewhere soon.

This is the second time global competition has undermined the 45-year-old company. It originally made glass Christmas lights, ornaments and specialty items through the 1950s and ’60s until it saw its market share go overseas in the early 1970s. It began to manufacture glass bulbs for automobile lamps in the mid-1970s. The company produced about a half-million bulbs each day.

Paragon was one of the first tenants of Lewiston Industrial Park on outer Lisbon Street. The Lewiston Development Corp. built a plant on speculation and Paragon leased it in 1959. It was founded by the Paione family.