Founded in 1982 as ENCO Industries in Woodlawn by Doerger-Roberts’ father, Jim, Vinylmax made one of the first product lines of its kind in 1984. The company moved from Sharonville to Hamilton in 2008 and built a 150,000-square-foot facility.
Vinylmax currently has 168 employees producing between 400,000 and 500,000 windows a year, said Doerger-Roberts, who became COO in January.
She is proud of the company’s most recent accomplishment.
“We surpassed 400 days without a lost work time accident, which for a manufacturing company of our size and of our type is virtually unheard of,” she said.
Four of Doerger-Roberts’ siblings work at the plant. Founder Jim Doerger is chief financial officer and board chairman.
Q What are some of the biggest challenges facing the business today and why?
A I would say the soft economy is the largest challenge that we're facing. Our products have been far more stable than the new construction market. We're heavily weighted to the replacement window industry, which has remained relatively strong, but consumers just aren't buying anything right now.
Q How has Vinylmax retooled itself to survive during these tough economic times?
A We have excellent employees and we've been able to be really flexible with our workforce in making sure that we're not overspending, to make sure we're only using the labor that we're required to use and we've been able to retain a very solid workforce that allows us to do more with less.
Q What are the company's biggest strengths?
A We have a very broad range of products, so if a homeowner is looking for a replacement window, we have something that is appropriate for the house flipper who is looking for a quick and economical renovation to turn the house and we have products that are very, very green and energy efficient for the consumer who really has a mind toward that. And then we have upscale products that are appropriate for multi-million dollar homes, so we've got something for everyone.
Q Where do you see Vinylmax headed in terms of growth in five years?
A Our plan is to certainly have grown by 40 to 50 percent and I don't see that our distribution geography will change at all because we're already reaching the outer bounds of that.
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