Home from seminar Its Friday already! I’m trying to get used to blogging –it’s a real adjustment to my already hectic schedule, but I’ll do my best. I returned from Minnesota late Wednesday. We were so busy touring and receiving training that I really didn’t have much opportunity to post proper updates. The trip was absolutely AMAZING! From food/drinks to activities to touring, we were ALL treated as VIP guests. I’m including some highlights of the trip in the slideshow below. I was able to take some shots inside Cardinal Glass factory; however, Marvin Inc. doesn’t permit it since there are many components and methods that go into fabricating their brand. Who can blame them, they’re a top rated manufacturer guarding their best interests from copycat competitors. Cardinal Glass, on the other hand, deals with additional window and door manufactures such as Anderson and Pella, so we were given much more freedom to explore and document. Although we were the first group of contractors from this area invited to be given a tour of the factory, there are no “secrets” here when it comes to producing glass. The place is ginormous!! Can you believe I saw a 2 MILE LONG UNCUT sheet of glass?! Incredible. And I’m not kidding. They roll roughly 21 miles a day. The glass was bent and weaved through this huge device made of hundreds of rollers (picture a Christmas ribbon candy multiplied in size by a gazillion). The intense heat allows the glass to roll through this device without breaking, then is cut to custom sizing when it reaches the end. Quite the apparatus.
Aside from the interesting process involved in glass making, I was equally impressed with the fact that Marvin Inc.’s factory is run by actual people, not computers. In this technology era, and me being a hands-on guy, it’s nice to see that these jobs aren’t getting handed off to robots. This company is very people oriented. So much so that the choice of location for the Marvin family’s corporation was to provide jobs and boost the economy in Warroad. The residents there are extremely warm and friendly –very family oriented. As contractors we learned so much about the manufacturing and materials used to create a top notch product –totally impressed with Marvin’s ethics, production standards and customer service. We share common principles and beliefs in this regard, so this is the kind of company I’m happy to promote to my customers and do business with. There is more to a window or door than meets the eye, and over the next several weeks I hope to start sharing some of it with you.
In case some of you may not know, Obama extended the Energy Star Tax Credit law into 2011. It’s been written into law under a new name which you can read up on here: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=windows_doors.pr_taxcredits
This new law gives homeowners an additional opportunity to make some simple updates to their existing structure; while reducing their monthly energy costs and recouping their investment over the long term. If your budget allows, there really is no better time than now to take advantage of it. All for now, -G
