Window firm opens largest-ever product launch

VENICE — Impact-resistant window and door manufacturer PGT Inc. is primed to embark on the largest product launch in the history of the company.

The products, according to a release, are part of the WinGuard and EnergyVue lines. Venice-based PGT, traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol PGTI, was founded in 1980. The firm had $306.4 million in sales in 2014, up 28% from $239.3 million in 2013.

“As the housing market improves, so does the demand for high-quality products that help make homes both more beautiful and more functional,” PGT President Jeffrey Jackson says in the statement.

Past the product lines, PGT continues to add to the payroll, including 50 hires so far in 2015. The firm hired more than 300 people last year and now has 1,700 employees, which makes it one of the largest employers in the Sarasota-Bradenton region. A majority of the new hires work in the 96,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art glass plant PGT opened late last year, the release states. The new WinGuard Vinyl and EnergyVue windows will be made at that plant.

“The new plant was built to expand our glass making capability in light of increased demand for impact-resistant and energy-efficient glass,” Jackson says in the statement.