Good ‘ol Hard-Working Country Boys

Most people slow down when they reach retirement age, but Larry Kliewer isn’t like “most people.” Larry made his money in the rough and tumble oil patch, doing oil-field casing. Five years ago along with his two brothers he set up Progressive Windows, a manufacturer of high-end windows and doors.

Kliewer had seen two manufacturing companies which employed 300 people leave his Fairview, OK (population 2,733) hometown. His brother was talking with a foreign exchange student from Holland who was a window manufacturer. As Larry said, “His father was a real craftsman. The more we talked to him the more intrigued we became. Once you get hold of something, you can’t always turn it loose.” They started with one employee and have grown the business to 15.

The windows are European-style “tilt-and-turn” ones. You turn the latch up and the window turns in; turn the latch down and it opens horizontally. They sell their custom made products largely through word-of-mouth, still the best marketing method.
Clay Buford, Applications Engineer for the Oklahoma Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence said, “They were already quite successful and wanted to leave something for Fairview. They looked around and saw the area was in great need of manufacturing jobs—jobs that would pay a living wage.”

Doug Taylor, a manufacturing extension agent with the Alliance said, “They didn’t have to build this company. They could have retired or done whatever they wanted to do. They’re just good ‘ol hard-working country boys who wanted to make a difference.”

I run into a lot of these “good ‘ol hard-working country boys” in my travels. I’m glad that I do.