Attention  to our building-professional readers! Are you headed to the International Builders’ Show next week? Are you ready to see the latest in cutting-edge fenestration innovation? Then you need to make sure to stop by the Marvin booth!

We’re in booth W2339 and will be showing all of our latest and greatest as well as old favorites. If you love Marvin, want to tell us something or just want to see what all the fuss is about, stop by! There’s always someone there to talk with.

Safe travels to Orlando and see you at the show! If you’re not able to make it, we’ll be covering the show on MLuxe next week, so stay tuned…

Happy New Year, dear readers! We have greatly enjoyed talking with you in 2011. Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by our little patch of Internet. All the best to you in 2012!

Image courtesy of jonathanrchang on Flickr.

Happy Thanksgiving to our readers! We’ll be back posting on Monday. In the meantime, carve up some turkey, dish up some pumpkin pie and relax and enjoy the holiday.

We are thankful for YOU!

Image courtesy of Ginger Me on Flickr.

A company’s heritage is built on vision, determination and an abiding commitment to core beliefs. At Marvin, our heritage of excellence goes back more than a century. It reflects an unwavering dedication to quality, service, innovation and community. That dedication has been passed on through four generations of family leadership. And thousands of our skilled workers have been steeped in our heritage through a lifetime of family connections to our company and the communities we proudly call home.

Last week, we began taking time to celebrate Marvin Windows’ long history of values and innovation. It’s a celebration that will continue for the next several weeks. We’ll be publishing a series of videos that tell the stories of our company’s heritage. We’ll be posting a weekly trivia question on our Facebook page and Twitter account. We’ll be writing blogs posts that feature special construction and remodeling projects featuring Marvin products. And so much more.

Stay tuned to this blog, to the Marvin Media Room, to our Facebook page, to our Twitter account, and to our YouTube channel for more.

We at Marvin Windows talk and write a lot about the state of the economy and how it affects the housing industry, how it affects our business, and how it affects the communities around us. We’re proud to have been invited on “Fox & Friends,” the nation’s top-rated cable morning show, this past weekend to discuss Marvin’s fight to keep its employees on the job during the long economic downturn.

Susan Marvin, our company president, did a great job presenting Marvin’s viewpoint on the critical issue of American jobs.

“We recognize that people are our most valuable asset, so that’s the last place we’re going to cut,” she told co-host Clayton Morris. Everyone at the company has participated in the sacrifices needed to preserve jobs, she said — including senior management and all 16 Marvin family members who work full-time for the company.

Marvin remains committed to making decisions that will serve the long-term interests of the company, she stressed.

“You guys did a great service, and this is a remarkable thing, Susan,” Morris said as he wrapped up the interview, shaking his head in admiration.

We’re getting that reaction a lot. To us, it’s just business as usual. But we appreciate the sentiment, and we’ll keep doing everything we can to preserve American jobs.

We were delighted to see this insightful, in-depth story about Marvin Windows and Doors  in Sunday’s New York Times. The reporter, Andrew Martin, spent three days in our hometown of Warroad, Minn., talking with company leaders and townspeople. He wanted to look at how a mid-sized company was navigating through the economic downturn.

What he discovered was Marvin’s commitment to its community and its valued workers. Although we’ve had to make cutbacks during the downturn, we still have not laid off any of our skilled, experienced workers. As our company president, Susan Marvin, told the Times: “You can’t cut your way to prosperity. You can’t grow if you are cutting your lifeblood — and that’s the skills and experience your work force delivers.”

The story about a family-owned company that refuses to cut jobs has been flying around the Internet. For example, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren wrote about Marvin on her blog, Greta Wire:

“These are very tough times and require smart thinking, and frankly it looks like Marvin Windows is doing the right thing — not the easiest,” she wrote. “I love that Marvin Windows is called a ‘throwback to another era’ — that is a compliment!”

We think our no-layoff stance is good for business, too. We’re gaining market share from competitors that have cut back on workers, product development and investment in growing their sales. When this downturn ends — and it will end — we’re going to come out as one of the strongest players in the business.

Happy Labor Day, everyone! We hope you enjoy the holiday weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Tuesday.

Until then, be sure to make some time for one last summer grill-out — before fall grilling season begins!

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Minnesota/Midwest MLuxe readers: Are you heading to the Minnesota State Fair over the holiday weekend? If so, between visiting the Moo Booth, eating fill-in-the-blank on a stick and riding the rides at the Mighty Midway, you might want to stop in at Marvin’s State Fair booth.

We are in the upper level of the Grandstand and have an array of Marvin products to show you. Our local dealers will be there to help you find exactly what you are looking for and to answer your questions about new windows and window replacement.

So come on down to the Fair and check us out! Happy fair-going!

Image courtesy of the Minnesota State Fair

Marvin is pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 Architect’s Challenge. These gorgeous houses and buildings, designed by some of today’s most innovative architects, feature Marvin products and cutting-edge design. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing in-depth details of each project (and you can visit marvin.com to see more now), but let’s learn more about the judging panel.

J. Carson Looney, FAIA: Carson is one of the founders of Looney Ricks Kiss Architects with multiple offices headquartered in Memphis, TN. He is the Principal in Charge of Residential Architecture, providing design services for all segments of the Housing industry, as well as neighborhood planning and design guidelines.

He passionately believes one of the highest levels of sustainability in design is achieved through the creation of homes and neighborhoods that have enduring value— places and homes that are based on timeless principals, while seamlessly balanced with identifying and solving modern functional lifestyle needs. Quality of life and adaptable livability solutions are evident in the firm’s work, whether it is a modest row house or a unique custom home.

In 1996, Carson was elected to The College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in recognition of his efforts to ensure the advancement of the living standards of people through their improved environment. In addition, he was recognized by residential architect magazine (Jan. 1999) as one of five current-day architects whose work forecasts the century ahead. In October 2007, he was inducted into the Wm. S. Marvin Hall of Fame for Design Excellence for his quality-of-life design solutions based on timeless principles of architecture. In January 2009, Carson was honored as one of the Top 30 Innovators for the Past 30 Years by BUILDER Magazine and the Hearthstone Humanitarian Awards. Carson was also inducted into the Inaugural Class of the Best in American Living Awards Hall of Fame in January 2009.

The work of the firm is widely published and to date has received 502 regional and national design awards.

William H. Kreager, FAIA, LEED®, MIRM: Bill Kreager, retired founding principal of Mithun, has created new homes and communities all across the United States. The integration of site planning, building design and sustainability in urban infill and mixed-use developments is the focus of his practice. His projects have achieved national recognition for Smart Growth implementation, environmentally sensitive master site planning and innovative architectural design. His progressive, marketoriented projects range from small, infill communities to new 6,000-acre towns. Bill has been lead master planner for new innovative communities throughout the Pacific Northwest, most recently High Point, a mixed-use community of 1,600 units that reweaves the neighborhood into West Seattle. Bill is a compelling speaker who is frequently requested to talk about housing issues before regional and national audiences.

Mark McInturff, FAIA: Mark McInturff FAIA is a native of Washington DC and received his B. Architecture from the University of Maryland School of Architecture with its first graduating class in 1972. He taught at the University of Maryland from1980 to 2006, and was appointed as the University of Maryland Kea Professor for Spring 2003. From1995 through 2004 he was also a visiting critic at the Catholic University of America’s School of Architecture and Planning. McInturff was elevated to the College of Fellows of the AIA in 2000.

McInturff Architects, a seven-person firm in Bethesda, Maryland, has an orientation toward small highly crafted contemporary design for residential, commercial and small institutional projects.

The firm has received more than 250 design awards, including three AIA Honor Awards, two for Interior Architecture and one for Urban Design, and an AIA Housing Award for multi-family housing. The work is the subject of two monographs, In Detail: McInturff Architects (2001) and In Residence: McInturff Architects (2007), both by The Images Publishing Group of Australia.

We’re proud to have been recognized by management expert Donald Delves in this great column for Forbes. Delves explores how the bond between Marvin, our hometown of Warroad and our valued workers has resulted in a healthy company and a healthy community.

Here’s an excerpt:

Aside from the admiration and respect of employees, what has the company received in return for its commitment to employees? Marvin’s reliability as an employer has created a workforce that can be relied on for high-quality craftsmanship and meticulous quality control, sustained by strong esprit de corps stemming from a highly positive plant culture.

We’re glad others recognize a culture that has been nurtured for generations — and that we will always work to strengthen. Read Delves’ full piece here.