Jim Doerger, 67, has five total children working at the plant including Laura, 40, and the next eldest siblings Craig and David, both 37, who have become vice presidents. Mark Doerger, 30, and Maria Lusk, 29, will remain as the information technology manager and human resources manager.
“We’ve been involved in the succession plan 14 years,” Laura said. “So he has formally stepped down from day-to-day operations.”
The succession plan has been carried out in two phases. The first phase was to financially pass the company to the next generation and the managerial changes are the second. But the most recent change isn’t a philosophic one for the company.
“It’s been a steady progression of taking more responsibility,” she said.
Jim Doerger founded the company as ENCO Industries in Woodlawn in 1982. At the time windows were mostly made of aluminum frames. Laura said as vinyl frames became more popular for their cost and energy efficiencies, the company’s name was changed accordingly in 1990. Vinylmax, which operates under the holding company Windows Solutions, made one of the first product lines of its kind in 1984, she said.
Vinylmax moved from Sharonville in 2008 and built a 150,000-square-foot facility in Hamilton Enterprise Park. It has more than 200 employees producing more than 300,000 windows a year, according to Vinylmax. The windows are sold to wholesale distributors located between the Rocky Mountains and the East Coast.
Vinylmax revenues have tripled the past seven years as part of the remodeling industry and Craig Doerger attributes its success to its products.
It’s encouraging that the company will remain family owned, said Kenny Craig, president and chief executive officer of Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.
“I remember when we originally met with them when they moved in to the location in Hamilton in 2008 and how I was impressed by the fact they were a family-owned business at the time with the ability to make decisions locally,” Craig said.
When they first moved to Hamilton, they had under 140 employees, he said.
“The family business has grown both their number of employees and sales in a down economy. So businesses like this are important to the community,” he added.
Craig Doerger said the company is eyeing future growth, beginning with a current initiative to focus on operational excellence.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.
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