By Linda Schmid
History
“Pay it forward.” Those amazing words were issued from an investor when Herb Englert attempted to pay back the loan he had taken out to expand his company. It was the 1980s and he was expanding the aluminum gutter business he began in the 1960s into a vertically integrated company. It was a pioneering concept, providing roofers with a machine that “did it all”, a portable Rollforming machine and coil and everything they needed to be successful. In the company’s words they were “providing an extraordinary opportunity to ordinary people.” Their investing benefactor could see the good they were doing for the industry, and he told them to use his investment to bring more people into the industry. They followed his directive.
The company grew, developing environmentally friendly metal finishes, adding new locations and facilities across the country, adding on-line capacity, improving processes, and adding automated improvements as technology changed. Along the way they developed the RainPro Gutter System and seamless gutter machine, and Leafguard gutter protectors.
Today
The company is known for both the gutter and roofing supplies and products they sell to fabricators, distributors, and installers. They are expanding, and they have recently added a new 100,000 sq. ft. distribution warehouse in New Jersey to facilitate distribution around the country .
They partner with Geocel, S-5! and VanMark for many of their supplies, and their primary paint supplier is PPG.
Challenges
James Hazen, the National Roofing Manager said that like many others in the industry and beyond, they were impacted by the COVID pandemic. In their case, they struggled to keep up with the volume of work; it quadrupled as builders tried to keep up with the home improvement and commercial construction demands and ensure they would not run out of supplies. Hazen said that having their own paint line helped, as it was one less thing that made them dependent on others during a time when workers and distribution capabilities were in short supply.
Their roofing and gutter business is growing, and Hazen said that growth, as positive as it is, always presents challenges. They strive to stay on top of support, warranties, and trends as they expand.
Recently they expanded their Kynar finish warranty to 40 years, and they have added more color options. Colors come and go, Hazen added. They watch the trends closely to inform those choices, and when they find themselves with too much of a specific color, they’ll offer specials to help keep inventory fresh and produce what customers want.
The architectural team watches the trends very closely providing monthly project volume projections which they use to inform their product choices. They are always trying to project into the future to know what will be in demand, checking with their clients and the community they work within for advice on something they would like to see. For instance, if they get a tip that there is a hot new product people are using in South Florida, they get busy working to provide it. Of course, they make sure that any new products still meet all the stringent testing requirements, such as those required around the country to include Notice of Approvals in Miami/Dade Counties
Business Goals
Hazen said their goals are unchanging since the early days: creating extraordinary opportunities for ordinary people. Their top priority is to build the relationship with their customer, becoming the resource and support that helps that customer make the most of their opportunities.
The biggest key to making that happen Hazen believes is in getting the word out to the industry about how Englert systems help their business and how their customer-focused team approach can help too. Their group has a lot of experience and time invested in the industry, including salesman and plant workers with almost 40 years in the business.
Tools for Attaining those Goals
How have they managed to maintain a customer-focused mindset while maintaining the level of quality needed in their products? One key is the high retention rate the company maintains. Their culture is about giving every employee a chance to be successful with the more experienced workers mentoring the less experienced.
“Make employees feel valued,” Hazen said, “from the big picture things like management communicating vision to employees and soliciting feedback, showing employees they belong and providing competitive benefits to the little things like bringing food trucks in for lunch and other team building events. This kind of culture is something you must work at every day,” he added.
Recruiting can be a challenge, often the skills they are looking for aren’t attainable, but if the company finds a potential employee with a positive attitude and a personality they think would work well in their team, they are willing to take a chance on them and train them into the job.
What’s New
Recently the company was acquired by Great Day Home Improvements, a family of brands that is mostly direct-to-consumer. Englert is one of the few business-to-business companies in the group.
The transition was smooth, Hazen said, and his team are incredibly happy with the prospects for the future.
“Englert’s new ownership group is very entrepreneurial, and we think they will be really ramping up to help the company expand with people and new branches so we will be less limited by geography,” Hazen said.
Hazen’s enthusiasm is not for the Englert group alone. He said, “I see that a lot of companies can have opportunities in the metal industry. Distribution, private equity, public companies, suppliers, and start-ups all can find their place and experience great growth in the industry.” RB
