Serious Re-Opens Former Kensington Windows***Updated March 18, 8:15 EST With Video
Mar 17th, 2009 | By DWM Mag | Category: Featured Content
Serious president Kevin Surace (middle right), participates in a green ribbon cutting ceremony with PA Governor Ed Rendell (middle left) along with rehired Kensington employees.
Serious Materials, the new owner of the former Kensington Windows, reopened the Vandergrift, Pa., facility in a ceremony held yesterday. Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell, along with rehired Kensington employees, were on-hand to celebrate the reopening of the plant that closed abruptly in October when parent company Jancor Co. lost its financing and filed for bankruptcy. Approximately 25 former Kensington employees have been rehired to date, including Robin Scott, who spoke with a great deal of emotion yesterday at the ceremony. The company plans to bring other employees back as orders increase.
“You don’t need a Ph.D. to see that factories are fleeing this area,” said Scott. “So I wasn’t that surprised when Kensington closed …. But when they shut this place down it was the worst feeling I ever had.”
Scott added that he hadn’t thought the facility would be reopened under new management. “When I got the call from my friend Chuck (Chuck Wetmore, plant manager) to come back, my response was, ‘when and where?’”
He also joked, “I’m not a tree hugger by any means,” but that he was pleased to hear that Serious Materials, a company focused on energy-efficient windows, was the new owner.
Rendell echoed this sentiment. “I’m not a tree hugger either, but I know that saving energy will be crucial in the next 25 years,” he said.
He also used Kensington/Serious as an example of government at work (referring to the stimulus package).
“The next time you hear someone say government doesn’t work, tell them they are wrong,” he said.
As another example, he pointed to the money allotted to weatherization of homes in the stimulus bill.
“We’ll do training so people learn how to weatherize homes,” he said. “That’s a lot of jobs that will be created.”
Serious president Kevin Surace also spoke at the event and told those in attendance about the company’s commitment to saving energy through its production of high R-value windows. Most windows are R2 or R3, says Surace, meaning half of the energy will be lost from that window.
“Five percent of all the energy in America literally goes out the window and we can change that,” says Surace, who says Serious windows have an R value of 11.
“It’s so gratifying for others to see what I knew when I started this company-that no one does what we do,” he added.
Click on the video below for an exclusive interview with Wetmore.
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[...] of good news up close.Yesterday Serious Materials reopened the former Kensington Windows facility (CLICK HERE for that news story), and I was fortunate enough to travel to Vandergrift, Pa., to witness the [...]
[...] Serious Materials was recognized by President Obama on Monday as he addressed more than one hundred clean energy entrepreneurs and leading researchers at the “Investing in the Clean Energy Economy” event held in Washington, D.C. Highlighting events such as the reopening of Kensington Windows in Pennsylvania, President Obama commended Serious Materials on creating jobs that will aid the recovery of our nation while innovating and creating the technologies that will fuel America’s long-term prosperity.”Serious Materials just reopened a manufacturing plant outside of Pittsburgh. Last year, that factory was shuttered and more than one hundred jobs were lost. The town was devastated. Today, that factory is whirring back to life, and Serious Materials is rehiring the folks who lost their jobs. And these workers will now have a new mission: producing some of the most energy-efficient windows in the world.” (For DWM’s coverage of the re-opening CLICK HERE.) [...]
I have Kensington windows. I have 2 that need replacing. Before I could just call and paid the shipping fee and another replacement window was sent. What can I do now?