Window of opportunity at Steinbach company

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This article was published 18/03/2015 (3885 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINDOW-and-door manufacturer Loewen is back in hiring mode as a strengthening U.S. economy breathes new life into its once flagging sales.

The 110-year-old Steinbach company has hired 40 to 50 new workers since the middle of last year and plans to add another two dozen or so over the next two to three months, Clyde Loewen, the firm’s senior vice-president, product and marketing, said Tuesday.

What happens beyond the next two or three months will depend on whether sales continue to improve, Loewen said. If they do, more workers may be added in the second half of the year as well.

In addition to beefing up its staff, Loewen Windows will be adding an evening production shift in some of its departments for the next couple of months to ensure it can keep up with demand and fills customer orders in a timely fashion.

The company manufactures wood and metal-clad-wood doors and windows for the high-end residential and light industrial markets. Although it produces all of its products at its Steinbach plant, 75 to 80 per cent of its sales are to the U.S. market.

Clyde Loewen said it’s the long-awaited rebounds in the U.S. economy and housing markets, not the weaker Canadian dollar, that has enabled the company to start hiring more workers.

He said the products Loewen sells south of the border are priced in U.S. dollars and must be competitive with the prices its U.S. competitors are charging, so changes in the value of the Canadian dollar aren’t really a factor when it comes to prices.

“We have a price list our (U.S.) dealers go off of… and we have not adjusted that price list to reflect any changes in the exchange rate.”

Loewen the U.S. recovery has been slower than expected, and also pretty uneven at times.

“In the last year or couple of years, it’s been sort of like a heavy-loaded airplane. It’s starting to take off, and then there’s a gust of wind the wrong way and it sort of sags, and then it bumps up again,” he said.

“But… (it) has started to come back. I wouldn’t say it’s a buoyant market, by any means, but it’s starting to show signs of life.”

And so, too, have the company’s sales.

Because it’s a privately owned company, Loewen wouldn’t reveal specific numbers. All he would say is the company has seen a double-digit increase in sales, year over year.

“Not high double digits, but… double-digit percentage growth, sales-wise,” he added.

With the new hires, employment at the Steinbach plant is back above the 500-employee threshold. While that’s still a far cry from the 1,500-plus it had prior to the U.S. market crash, at least it’s heading in the right direction.

Loewen said the new hires have included both production workers and front office/technical staff, such as designers and engineers. That will be the case with the next round of hires as well.

The rebound is good news for more than just Loewen, Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen said.

“They’re a regional employer, so it’s not just the City of Steinbach that benefits,” he said. “It’s all of the municipalities around Steinbach.”

Goertzen said Loewen also is still one of the region’s largest employers, and one of its biggest supporters.

“They’ve employed so many people (over the years), and they’ve given so many people an opportunity to make a living. So it’s good to hear they are again excelling in the marketplace,” he added.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca