Front and Center: Gary Westermann, owner of Marlin Windows, has clear view of how to make a business work
Early on, Gary Westermann learned two ways to take the measure of a man.
The first was figuratively.
“When I worked construction, I discovered there’s all kinds of people, and you’ve got to get along with them one way or another.”
The second way was literally.
“In high school, I worked for a tuxedo rental business. When I measured a guy’s inseam for his tux, I had to shove the tape right up into his crotch, which I didn’t like. (laugh) But sometimes you have to do things that make you uncomfortable.”
Both lessons have served Westermann well, although as president of Marlin Windows he’s spent more time measuring panes than pants.
His company’s products are ubiquitous, from the Convention Center expansion and Davenport Grand downtown, to Ferris High School on the South Side and Rogers High in Hillyard.
During a recent interview at the company’s Spokane Valley headquarters, Westermann discussed the advantages of aluminum, the challenge of energy codes and driving illegally.
S-R: Where did you grow up?
Westermann: Spokane. I was born at the old Sacred Heart Hospital and attended Lincoln Heights Elementary and Ferris.
S-R: What were your interests back then?
Westermann: I loved to hunt, fish, snow ski, water ski, play baseball. I was an outdoor kind of kid.
S-R: How about early jobs?
Westermann: I worked from when I was 10, mowing lawns and raking leaves. My first real part-time job was at Troy Laundry on the corner of Altamont and Sprague. I started out as janitor when I was 15. My older brother had the job, and when he moved on I took over. Later I worked the front counter and tux rentals.
S-R: How did you get to work at 15?
Westermann: I drove a motorcycle that I wasn’t licensed for. (laugh)
S-R: Did you ever get pulled over?
Westermann: Once, by a sheriff’s deputy. He told me to get my butt home and park that motorcycle until I was legal to drive, which wasn’t long after that.
S-R: What other jobs did you have?
Westermann: I started working for the House of Aluminum and Glass – what we used to be called – when I was still in high school, assembling patio doors and windows. I also worked on a concrete crew and did some construction.
S-R: Did you have any idea what career you might pursue?
Westermann: I thought about becoming a civil engineer like my dad. But after struggling through four years of (high school) math and science, I changed my mind.
S-R: Then what?
Westermann: I considered getting into finance, but my dad said, “You’re no finance guy. You’re a construction guy.” So I gravitated to production management at Eastern, graduated in ’76, and I’ve been with this company ever since.
S-R: How has the business evolved?
Westermann: We were strictly residential back then, and now we’re almost all commercial – windows, doors, skylights and curtain walls. Over the years, my partner, Lyle Grambo, and I designed all our products.
S-R: How did you learn design?
Westermann: Looking at competitors’ products, and learning from our mistakes and theirs.
S-R: When did windows’ energy efficiency start getting attention?
Westermann: They’d moved from single glaze to insulated glass by 1976, but there was no low-e, no special coating, no argon – that kind of stuff. What we call thermo-break aluminum started in the late ’70s, but it was expensive and took a while to catch on. Low-e arrived in the mid- to late ’80s. For a while we used a product called Heat Mirror – a film between two panes of glass – that turned out to be a disaster. Then in the early ’90s, cheaper, more energy-efficient vinyl arrived and pretty much ash-canned aluminum for residential windows. By then, (Oregon-based) Jeld-Wen owned the business and produced a vinyl window here.
S-R: How did you acquire Marlin?
Westermann: Jeld-Wen closed down our vinyl production in 1997. Three years later, they decided our commercial aluminum line didn’t fit their business model. That’s when they sold the company to Lyle and me.
S-R: How did you decide on job titles?
Westermann: We flipped a coin. (laugh) I ended up president and Lyle vice president.
S-R: Was there a market for commercial-grade aluminum windows when you bought the company?
Westermann: We made money our first month. Vinyl windows have limitations. You can’t get the finishes (architects want). We can powder coat the frames anything from light champagne to black, and it’s permanent. Aluminum also is more durable, so you can maintain it easier. And our lines are crisp and clean compared with vinyl, which has rolled corners.
S-R: How about energy efficiency?
Westermann: We’re right up there now with our double thermal breaks, although it’s tough. And the Washington State Energy Code keeps getting tougher. Even vinyl guys have trouble meeting the latest standards.
S-R: Do you build triple-pane windows?
Westermann: A lot of them. Triple pane is effective, but it gets heavy. Some of our double-pane residential windows are already so heavy – maybe 650 pounds – that we send them out “open,” meaning the glass is separate from the frames.
S-R: You sell mostly wholesale. Can retail customers buy directly from you?
Westermann: They can here in the Spokane area.
S-R: What factors should someone building a custom home consider when choosing windows?
Westermann: How long the manufacturer has been in business, what kind of hardware they use, and what finishes are available.
S-R: Did the recession impact your business?
Westermann: Big time. Our best year – $9 million – was just before Obama took over. Afterward, we went from almost 60 employees down to 30.
S-R: When do you expect to recover?
Westermann: As soon as Obama goes.
S-R: What’s your typical workday?
Westermann: I got here this morning at 5, and I’ll leave at 5. Now that I’ve hit 63, I like to spend more time at my cabin in Montana, so my partner and I alternate work weeks when we can.
S-R: What do you like most about your job?
Westermann: The production end of it – working through details and figuring things out.
S-R: What do you like least?
Westermann: Employees. They’re the most difficult part of my job.
S-R: How about customers?
Westermann: (laugh) Them, too, sometimes. We’ve had customers install doors upside down and windows sideways. One customer bought a commercial entrance door with a concealed closure feature, and complained that the door opened every time he closed it. When I tried to explain that he needed to load the closure before he put the door on, not after, he got mad at me. I said, “Try this, please,” and he eventually got it to work right.
S-R: Do most people take windows for granted?
Westermann: Yes. I’ve seen $1 million homes with plastic windows because their owners think all windows are the same, which isn’t true at all. But by and large, if you start putting together a $75,000 window package for your house, you’re going to do your research. And the internet makes that easier.
S-R: What’s the business outlook for your product?
Westermann: Aluminum will never go away. Granted, it’s more expensive. But it’s still the best option out there, in my opinion.
S-R: What advice would you offer someone interested in this career?
Westermann: Get a degree in business or engineering, then start at the bottom with a good manufacturer.
S-R: What’s your business philosophy?
Westermann: One saying we have around here is, “If you can’t do it, you can’t stay.” We like can-do people.
S-R: What, if anything, would you change about yourself?
Westermann: I would be more patient.
S-R: What are you most proud of?
Westermann: The positive write-ups we’ve gotten in architectural magazines.
S-R: Did you have a mentor?
Westermann: Probably my dad.
S-R: What wisdom did he impart?
Westermann: From the time I was a kid, the main thing he always told me was to work hard, don’t be a complainer, and don’t worry about what other people are getting. Just worry about yourself. If you work hard, you’ll get there.
This interview has been condensed. If you’d like to suggest a business or community leader to be profiled, contact Michael Guilfoil at mguilfoil@comcast.net