Chairman and CEO of The Marvin Companies Will Continue to Head One of 12 Reserve Banks

WARROAD, Minn., August 11, 2010 – John W. (Jake) Marvin, Chairman and CEO of The Marvin Companies, has been selected by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to serve another term as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Marvin’s new term will expire Dec. 31, 2011.

The Minneapolis bank is one of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks across the country. As chair, Marvin heads a nine-person board of directors overseeing the bank’s operations. The Minneapolis bank serves the 9^th Federal Reserve District, encompassing Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and portions of northern Wisconsin and Michigan.

“I’m honored that the Board of Governors has again entrusted me with leading the Minneapolis bank,” Marvin said. “It’s a great responsibility, and I look forward to working with the bank’s outstanding staff and my fellow directors to support the growth and health of businesses in our district.”

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis works to promote safety and soundness in the nation’s banking system.  The bank also gathers and analyzes economic data and research in its district; operates an electronic payment system for financial institutions; provides coins and currency in the district; and works to encourage community investment.

Marvin is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Marvin Companies, headquartered in Warroad, Minn. The Marvin Companies includes three window and door companies: Marvin Windows and Doors; Integrity Windows and Doors; and Infinity Replacement Windows.

A graduate of Parsons College in Iowa, Marvin holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Houston. He has worked for The Marvin Companies since 1974 and has served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis since 2006.

Marvin also serves on the board of directors of Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.; on the Executive Committee of the Minnesota Business Partnership; and on the board of directors of the Northwestern Minnesota Manufacturers Association.

Marvin Windows and Doors is featured in an article on MSNBC.com today that discusses the recent uptick in manufacturing in the United States. From the report:

Susan Marvin went into 2010 expecting it to be much like 2009: weak and difficult.

So when the president of the Minnesota manufacturing company Marvin Windows and Doors started to see orders pick up a bit in March, she was pleased but not overly confident.

“I would have to say there was a very tentative optimism,” she said.

So far, the growth in orders has continued. That’s allowed Marvin, whose company makes windows and patio doors for upscale customers, to increase hours for her manufacturing employees and reverse some of the pay cuts she instituted for her salaried employees. …

The article also reinforces the significance of the company’s no-layoffs strategy:

“Clearly we had more employees than we had work,” Marvin said.

But to Marvin, the cost to morale and productivity that would come from laying off workers was not worth the financial gain. Instead, she had employees spend time doing additional training and looking for ways to run the plant cheaper and more efficiently.

With orders up, Marvin said some of the company’s plants are back to 40-hour weeks, while others have gone up to 35 hours. Salaried employees also will soon see a 2 percent increase in their reduced pay, she said.

By avoiding layoffs, Marvin thinks her company was in a better competitive position to ramp up production when business began to improve.

Read the full story at MSNBC.com.

Minnesota-based manufacturer recognized by Opus College of Business for four generations of business success, family leadership and community involvement

WARROAD, Minn., April 30, 2010 – Marvin Windows and Doors was honored yesterday as “Family Business of the Year” by the University of St. Thomas’s Opus College of Business.

The prestigious award, given by the college’s Center for Family Business of the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship, recognizes Marvin for 98 years and four generations of business success coupled with ongoing family leadership and community involvement.

“We’re honored and humbled to be recognized with this award,” said Jake Marvin, Chairman and CEO of The Marvin Companies. “In our modern economy, it’s more important than ever to have companies that recognize the timeless values of quality, integrity and commitment to families, employees and communities.

“As I look back, I realize that much of what we all learned about business, we learned from our father at the dinner table,” Marvin said. “The values he taught us every day are the same values we strive to uphold in running our business.”

Based in Warroad, Marvin employs more than 5,000 workers at seven factories in five states. The company is the world’s largest manufacturer of made-to-order wood and clad wood windows and doors.

Marvin was founded in 1912 by George Marvin, who opened a lumber and cedar business in Warroad. George’s son, the late Bill Marvin, led the company through a period of remarkable growth beginning in the 1950s, growing Marvin from a regional supplier into an internationally renowned maker of premium windows and doors.

Bill’s six sons and daughters picked up the leadership mantle. Ten members of the fourth Marvin generation are currently working within the Marvin family of companies and some are in leadership positions.

Ritch Sorenson, Opus Endowed Chair in Family Business and Academic Director of the Family Business Center, and Bill Monson, Director of the Family Business Center at the University of St. Thomas, say, “Our recognition reflects three areas of excellence: business, family, and community.  Marvin has a track record of innovation, financial performance, quality, customer loyalty, sensitivity to environmental issues, mutual respect and commitment to employees.  Multiple family members across the generations have worked in the business and fourth generation family members are being prepared to assume leadership.  The company reflects the culture, values and talents of its origins in Warroad, Minnesota, and represents the best qualities of family business.”

Since 1989, the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship has recognized outstanding individuals and companies that personify the spirit of entrepreneurship and demonstrate excellence and ethics in their pursuits.

Marvin’s “Family Business of the Year” award was given at the 2010 Annual Entrepreneurs Award Dinner in the Schulze Grand Atrium of the University of St. Thomas School of Law on the Minneapolis campus.

New mobile app helps homeowners visualize a home with new windows and doors

Warroad, Minn., April 12, 2010 – Have you ever found yourself fumbling for words while trying to describe your vision for what you want your living room to look like? Are you the type who might tear a photo out of a magazine and hold it up to the wall to see how that look might work in your home? The “Window Shopping” iPhone app from Marvin Windows and Doors is for you.

The Window Shopping app is a tool to help homeowners plan basic designs for windows and doors, inside and outside the house. After taking a photo of an interior or exterior space that could use an upgrade, the app user can choose from nearly 50 resizable photos of Marvin windows and doors, arrange them over the photo, and save or send the photo to share with friends, family or a local Marvin dealer. Watch a demo video below, and learn more or download the app at www.marvin.com/iphone.

The app includes interior and exterior views of several Marvin windows, as well as the five unique windows designed by Karim Rashid, Milton Glaser, Sarah Susanka and others as part of the myMarvin project. Users also can choose from an array of patio doors, offering a full lineup for redesigning the interior or exterior of a home. Window Shopping also includes automatically updating feeds from MLuxe, Marvin’s blog about fine home living and home improvement, and a special “Green Feed,” a series of articles and resources about energy efficiency and sustainability.

“Once a homeowner creates and saves a design idea, a Marvin dealer can bring the design to life by helping personalize windows or doors with the desired hardware, wood choices, colors, energy-efficiency ratings and so on,” said John Kirchner, public relations manager for Marvin Windows and Doors. “A dealer-locator tool is built into the app, which makes it easy to turn a homeowner’s design dream into a reality.”

The Universal Design Living Laboratory, a home designed to demonstrate the power of universal design, is half-way to completion, the organization announced yesterday.

The home is the brainchild of Rosemarie Rossetti, whose lower body was paralyzed after an accident. According to the group’s statement:

Life in a wheelchair inspired her to build home based on the concept of universal design, which makes a facility’s level of livability beneficial to the widest possible range of people in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. The home will be able to accommodate people of all sizes, ages and abilities.

The demonstration home project includes windows donated by Marvin Windows and Doors. You can see photos of the project’s construction phase on the UDLL Web site.

Susan Marvin, president of Marvin Windows and Doors, recently wrote an editorial that appeared in the Fargo Forum and the Grand Forks Herald on the issue of putting people before profits. That editorial was also published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune this weekend, and readers took notice.

Readers’ reactions to the story were overwhelmingly positive:

This is spot on. … Companies complain employees aren’t loyal to them, yet the companies aren’t loyal to their employees. I applaud Marvin Windows on thinking outside the standard response to an economic downturn.

Those of us who reside in NW MN and Eastern ND have grown accustomed to the generosity of the Marvin family. Their company (which they have shared with their employees) and its leaders have always been a class act, and they lead by example in the community in which they live and work.

This is a very compelling letter. Wish there were more companies like Marvin Windows.

Read the full article on startribune.com.

In an article published in the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, Susan Marvin, president of Marvin Windows and Doors makes her case for looking at jobs as more than numbers: “[L]ook behind those numbers, and you’ll find the real lives of workers and communities — and the profound effects of lost jobs.”

She explains:

Last year, I stood before more than 1,000 workers at our company’s flagship factory and told them we were reducing their weekly hours from 40 to 32.

They cheered.

Why? Because they were keeping their jobs. With the housing industry in the worst downturn of our lifetimes, our workers feared for their futures. They’d seen others in our business cut jobs and even close plants in response to the prolonged housing slump. When they learned we wouldn’t be following suit, it was an emotional moment.

Read the full piece at the Grand Forks Herald. The article also ran in the Fargo (N.D.) Forum.

A few simple steps now could save you big money later

Warroad, Minn., March 15, 2010 – Spring is a great time to give your home a check-up. The cold, ice and snow of winter can be tough on a house. You may be able to make a few small fixes now that will save you big money later. And if everything checks out perfectly — great. You’ve just given yourself peace of mind for the rest of the year.

Here are some spring maintenance tips from Marvin Windows and Doors.

• Make sure your gutters and downspouts are clean. If your gutters or downspouts are blocked, water can infiltrate your home through the eaves. And if your downspouts don’t carry water well away from your foundation, you could get water in the basement during spring rains.
• Look at your roof. The freeze-thaw cycle can lead to cracked or broken shingles. Also look for shingles that are missing, curling or cupping. If you have a flat roof, look for any pools of water – a sign that your flat roof isn’t draining properly.
• If you can do it safely, check the flashing around chimneys and vents, and in the valleys between roof pitches. This is a common area for leaks.
• Check the caulk and seals around your window frames, both where the window glass meets frame and where the frame meets the side of your house. If there are any gaps, seal them with caulk or a foam sealing product.
• Test your windows from inside the house to make sure they’re operating smoothly. Check to be sure the weatherstripping is in good shape. Lubricate the mechanism with a dry lubricant — oily lubricants attract dust and dirt, which can eventually restrict the window’s movement.
• Give your patios and decks a pressure washing. Also check your patio door. As with the windows, inspect the caulking where the door frame meets the side of the house. Make sure the tracks are free of debris and check to see that the door slides smoothly.
• If your windows or patio doors need replacement, remember that the federal government is offering a tax credit of up to $1,500 for energy-efficient products purchased in 2010.
• Look at the siding on your house. For wood siding, make sure the paint is in good shape and check for loose nails. For vinyl siding, look for cracking, warping or gaps between the panels.
• If you have brick siding, check for “spalling.” That’s when the face of the brick chips or pops away, leaving the interior of the brick exposed to moisture.
• If you have air conditioning, clean away any leaves or debris that have accumulated on the outdoor condenser unit. Then get the AC inspected and serviced by a professional contractor.
• Trim the shrubs around your home so they’re not touching the house. Make sure the ground slopes away from your foundation, to drain away water. If there are depressions or gaps, fill them in with stones and soil.
• Change the air filter on your furnace and check around the base of your water heater for leaks.
• And don’t forget to get your barbecue grill out of the garage!

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International non-profit promotes sustainable tropical forest management to preserve renewable resources and natural habitats

Warroad, Minn., March 4, 2010 – The Tropical Forest Foundation has named Steve Tourek, senior vice president and general counsel for Marvin Windows and Doors, as the new president of the organization’s board of directors.

The foundation is an international non-profit dedicated to sustainable forest management in the tropics, working with conservation groups, government agencies and companies that manufacture wood products to promote training, outreach and research pertaining to sustainable forest management in tropical regions around the world. Tourek is also chairman of the Window & Door Manufacturers Association.

Marvin has long been committed to sustainability in many forms: manufacturing energy-efficient windows and doors, maximizing recycling and reducing waste, and encouraging sustainable forestry practices. Tourek’s leadership in TFF is another example in a long history of environmentally oriented initiatives and accomplishments from Marvin.

“This company is driven to not just build beautiful windows and doors of great value but also to act as responsible stewards of our beautiful environment for future generations.,” Tourek said. “As close partners, we’ve seen the great work the Tropical Forest Foundation is doing on the ground. Its training centers and demonstration models, as well as research and outreach, are positively impacting what is actually taking place in the world. More concessions are better managed, more viable, more conducive to maintaining biodiversity and more supportive of communities whose long-term livelihood is dependent upon the economics of their forests. I look forward to serving and contributing to TFF’s mission with my fellow directors.”

For more information on TFF, visit www.tropicalforestfoundation.org.

At this year’s International Builders Show, Marvin and Integrity Windows and Doors showed off several new and improved products for 2010: the Ultimate Lift and Slide Door,  a retractable screen for our Ultimate Casement and Awning windows, the Ultimate Push Out French Casement and the Integrity All Ultrex Casement and Awning windows.

Home improvement expert and Today Show contributor Lou Manfredini was on hand to check out these and other products from Marvin, and he shot this video tour of our booth:

You’ll find the rest of Marvin’s IBS 2010 coverage here — it features interviews with show organizers, highlights of innovative products on display at the show, and details on Marvin’s own new products.