One of Canada’s leading manufacturers of fiberglass for door and window frames is back in business, with some significant changes that is, one year after a fire destroyed its predecessor. Omniglass SCT began work on new fiberglass pultruded frames and components in November 2012, at its new location inside Structural Composite Technologies’ composite plant in Winnipeg. The plant for its predecessor, Omniglass, a 30-year-old company, was severely damaged by fire in January 2012.
Omniglass SCT was formed by partners John Zadro, president of Structural Composite Technologies, who will be president of the new company, and Leroy Dankochik, general manager of both the predecessor and the new companies. Together they purchased the assets, including the patents, processes and door and window systems of Omniglass from Serious Energy. Omniglass SCT has hired ten former employees, including Laurie Davies, founder and former CEO of Omniglass, to assist with sales and business development.
“We are bringing back a respected name in fiberglass to the North American window and door industry,” says Zadro. “We are returning Omniglass SCT to what it did best: designing and manufacturing the best fiberglass components possible for windows and doors.”
USGlass spoke exclusively to Zadro today for more details on the purchase. He reports that the company has already signed several deals with door and window manufacturers, including many former clients, but adds that there is still a long road ahead.
“When the incident [the fire] happened, the expectation was things would get up and running quickly,” says Zadro. “We are in a world of just-in-time deliveries and no one carries inventory. When the magnitude of the fire was understood people scrambled and didn’t know where they were going. Dies started moving out, and those who owned dies were looking for someone to carry on work so they were forced to move on.”
“A number of clients scrambled as the former Omniglass started up a machine to fill some orders and kept a machine going. Others moved on and now we are in rebuild mode,” he adds. “A lot are committed to a new supplier but interested and most have received our phone call.”
He adds that the company has some interesting items in development that the company is excited to bring to market in the next few years. So how did the rebuilding of Omniglass occur, when reports back in February 2012 hinted that the company would not reopen?
“When Omniglass first went on the market after the fire we weren’t in a position to look at a purchase,” he says. “When the market cooled off and the attraction to it got more local we got involved.”
Zadro sent a letter to Serious on June 28 that started the purchase process.
Omniglass serves both the residential and commercial markets.
“The commercial industry is recognizing the value of fiberglass and it’s an easy sell to the designer and architect,” he says.
He adds that there is a great deal of growth available for fiberglass in the commercial market, fueled by the fact that it qualifies for the USGBC’s LEED program. Omniglass SCT will do business alongside privately-owned Structural Composite Technologies. Founded in 1961, Structural Composite Technologies custom fabricates fiberglass equipment for multiple industries including mining, chemical, utilities, wind energy, transportation and construction throughout North America.
