In celebration of serving the window industry for 110 years, Winco Window Company is releasing a new video highlighting the keys to the company’s longevity and success. The video provides insight into Winco’s culture, ideas, and employees.
The newly released video, The Winco Story, is available to watch on the Winco website and features perspectives from the company’s owners, employees and a customer.
About the video
One continuous theme among employees’ responses is “family.” “It’s a family-owned business. They’re very compassionate. They care a lot about their employees,” says Cindy Smith, Production Control Manager, and Winco employee for 42 years.
Michael Rupe, a Human Resources Administrator says, "That's what makes us unique. It seems as though, at every level, people care not just about the company as a whole and the mission, but they care about the people pushing their mission forward.”
Winco's history
The roots of the company go back to 1915 when Johann Otto Kubatzky, a German immigrant and a licensed architect, homebuilder, and contractor-turned-window manufacturer, submitted his first patent application. He developed an aluminum ventilator system that was used for both residential and commercial glass block windows. His two sons, Theodore and Woodrow, built the company by hiring sales reps to sell ventilators nationwide. Many of the original Winco ventilators are still in use today on historic buildings in multiple cities.
The brothers operated the family-owned business from the 1940s through the early 1960s, expanding the product line from ventilators to varying types of windows to meet customers’ needs as they arose. Today the company operates under the guidance of Woodrow's daughter, Kory Miller, and her husband, Gantt Miller, who, like Otto Kubatzy, also has an architectural background.
Gantt Miller, President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board, credits the company’s longevity to staying a step ahead of competition in developing new products, as well as a proactive response to market conditions.
Winco Window Company remains a family-owned and operated business today with six family members still involved in day-to-day operations: Gantt Miller III and Kory Miller, Owner; Gantt Miller IV, West Coast Sales; Woody Miller, VP Operations; Brad Barnes, Technical Marketing; and Elise Macchi, Supervisor, Collections and Accounts Receivable.
