has helped shape the heat ….

has helped shape the heat exchange industry into what it is today.

“It’s made us really have to look at what makes us different and what sets us apart,” said Deml.

When asked what makes her the most proud of Enerquip, Deml said, “It’s the culture that we developed, I love that we are so profitable that we can give so much back to our employees.”

She noted the closeness of the entire staff and called themselves a “family.” Deml says employees are quick to support each other and are truly unique.

Scheithauer was quick to agree with Deml.

“Everybody is always there for each other, whether it’s work or personal, I could ask anyone to go help me shovel my roof off, and I believe they would,” said Scheithauer.

“Not being just a number,” was Strebig’s response to what makes him most proud about Enerquip.

Strebig said that the shop employees are not separate from the office employees. They are simply Enerquip, they work as one and maintain a level of closeness that is difficult to match.

“I’m very proud of the continued growth that we’ve seen over the last 10 years,” said Herman.

He also agreed that the family mentality at Enerquip is something to be very proud of.

“Like every family, you’re not going to get along with everybody every day, but the way we all click together as a team is top-notch,” continued Herman.

As a company that changes with industry, Enerquip is always looking to change and expand.

“Expansions into a few more of our international markets, probably Canada,” said Deml in response to be asked what Enerquip is working on changing.

Deml also said that Enerquip is working on its website for the future. This will allow customers to easily access Enerquip and purchase various needs.

“We of course would see ourselves continually growing in the next 10 years,” replied Deml when asked what the next 10 years at Enerquip may look like.

Deml believes that expansion is likely within the next 10 years, but does not believe international expansion is likely.

“We’ll look at new markets, emerging markets without ignoring our solid base business that we already have,” added Herman.

There is a palpable excitement within the walls of Enerquip and you can bet that excitement will carry over into any endeavors they find themselves in within the next 10 years.

Great Northern Cabinetry

Upon speaking with Great Northern Cabinetry’s vice president of sales and marketing, Cheryl Graumann, it became evident that a lot has changed in the past 10 years.

“Changing and expanding our offerings, cabinet SKU’s (sizes or configurations), colors, that’s probably what has changed the most,” said Graumann.

She mentioned that due to customer preference and style always changing, so is the industry and Great Northern Cabinetry is always trying to keep up with the changes.

Ten years ago, the company had roughly 38 door styles and now 10 years later, they have 68 as a testament to the ever-changing industry.

Along with door styles, the color preferences of cabinetry have changed from the past. “Ten years ago, translucent stains were much more popular, however, since then our solid color finishes have doubled making up over 50% of our sales today, with white being the most popular color choice,” Graumann noted. Ten years ago they had around 20 different finishes, they offer around 30 finishes currently.

“With that, manufacturing has to follow suit, so if that requires different equipment to be able to provide those things, we have to be able to do that,” continued Graumann.

The company switched to a more user-friendly primer to accommodate the increase in white finishes which significantly helped speed up production. They also added a vacuum table to help minimize dust particles during the scuff sanding process for an improved finish. Finally, they have also updated equipment in their door and drawer departments to aid and improve production of those items.

Great Northern Cabinetry specializes in kitchen and bathroom cabinetry but they are able to create cabinets for any room in a home.

Ackeret Appliance and TV in downtown Medford has been serving people in the area for their appliance, sleep center and electronics needs since 1946. “We do great rooms, entertainment areas, bedrooms and closets by just changing the configurations of the cabinetry to work in other areas of the home ,” stated Graumann.

Graumann, who has been with the company for 38 years, said that she is most proud to be a part of this company because, “it makes a product that you can be proud of.”

Great Northern Cabinetry produces beautiful cabinetry which requires a lot of teamwork.

It is a very family-like place to work and events such as company picnics are a way to bond and give back to their 75 employees.

Great Northern Cabinetry is always looking for new opportunities to increase their dealer network and have recently tapped in to new areas.

“Right now we have dealers in about 30 states from Montana to Maine as well as Florida but are continuing to expand into other territories. We’re expanding some of our territories right now, we just introduced the southern territory of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma,” said Graumann.

As far as changing is concerned, the company does not currently have any major projects in the works, but Graumann said that they are always looking ahead to try and stay on top of any changes in industry.

She stated that they will continue to improve products and add new styles, storage options and accessories whenever possible to meet the market demands of the ever-changing kitchen trends.

She also mentioned the possibility of introducing frameless cabinetry which is cabinetry that is made without face frames.

The company currently offers framed cabinetry which has face frames instead of being box constructions with their three product lines.

“That’s something totally different and would require different construction methods, materials and equipment to produce,” said Graumann on the topic of frameless cabinetry.

“Obviously, we’re looking to grow and continue to be a profitable company well into the future,” said Graumann when asked where she sees the company in 10 more years.

She was also hopeful that another recession would not be in the forecast for the next 10 years because it took the company a long time to recover from the last one.

Lastly, she mentioned that with the possibility of growth, comes the possibility of adding new types of equipment such as a drying oven or perhaps adding a second shift if the company sees an increase in business.

From tapping into new business markets to constantly changing their offerings, Great Northern Cabinetry has been a busy company over the last 10 years. Expect that to continue as customer preference and style change through the years.

Sierra Pacific

What has changed at Sierra Pacific Windows in the last 10 years? According to human resources manager, Cher Murphy and director of marketing, April Lucas, everything has changed.

Sierra Pacific Industry, one of the largest lumber producers in the U.S. and parent company of Sierra Pacific Windows, acquired Hurd Windows and Superseal in Merrill over the last 10 years.

This brings new ownership, new goals, new employees and new systems.

With that, almost everything else began to follow suit.

Since then, the company has seen a lot of growth in the form of the doubling of the company size.

That brings increased capital which allows for the company to keep up with technological changes as well as continuing to add jobs.

As far the industry itself, Lucas said that it has changed a lot too.

“Some of the biggest things are energy efficiency and larger, more expansive windows and doors that everyone wants,” said Lucas.

“It is very architecturally driven, but overall we would say our consumer and architects keep driving for higher performance in products, and bigger,” she continued.

They, like many other companies, change as the wants and