MEMBER SPOTLIGHT


Giroux Glass Celebrating Milestone 75-Year Anniversary


By Carol Eaton AGC of California member


company Giroux Glass has plenty to celebrate in 2021. Ranked as the nation’s 12th largest


glazing and curtainwall contractor (Engineering News-Record 2020) and named the ENR California 2020 Specialty Contractor of the Year, Giroux Glass marks its milestone 75th anniversary this year. And despite the uncertainty


and challenges brought on by the pandemic, business is booming. CEO and president Nataline Lomedico projects that Giroux Glass will achieve a total of $90 million in sales with $80 million in earned revenue in 2021. Te company’s bottom line is


bolstered by a diversified portfolio of commercial, renovation, retail and luxury residential projects and is strongly supported by its number one asset – its people. Fully employee owned since 2017, Giroux Glass’ 270 employees are spread throughout six branch offices in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Fresno, San Bernardino, Phoenix and Orange County.


Modest Beginnings Te size and scope of work that


Giroux Glass undertakes today is a far cry from the modest nine-person glass shop purchased by former owner and CEO, Anne-Merelie Murrell, as part of a six-building real estate investment in 1991. Her interest at that time: to buy and renovate neglected properties in downtown Los Angeles around the University of Southern California campus. Murrell promised Louis Giroux


that she would operate his small family-owned glass service company, which was housed in one of those buildings, for at least a year. She quickly saw the company’s potential, and over the next 30 years, the company grew into an industrywide leader that is nationally recognized for its high-quality glass, glazing and architectural metals services. Giroux Glass moved to its current


Los Angeles headquarters in 1996. Over time it opened additional offices in Las Vegas, San Bernardino and Fresno. Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, Giroux opened its Arizona and Orange County offices. From the outset,


Murrell sought to create a sense of ownership among employees. Tat vision was fully realized through its Employee Stock Ownership


The Marion Anderson Hall at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, Los Angeles was a recent Giroux Glass project. Photo by Brian Peregrina, Giroux Glass.


18 January/February 2021


Nataline Lomedico


Plan (ESOP), which achieved 100% employee ownership in 2017, several years earlier than expected. Able to reap the rewards of a job well done, employee owners have a vested interest in the company’s success.


Culture of Collaboration Nataline Lomedico joined Giroux


Glass in late 2000 as controller and chief financial officer. Her mission: to help streamline the financials and establish the needed infrastructure, processes and procedures to help put the burgeoning company on solid footing as it grew. “I was planning on staying only


a couple of years, but it just became incredibly fun and challenging,” Lomedico said. “Tat was 20 years ago, and it doesn’t even seem like five years – it has flown by, and it’s been a lot of fun.” Tapped for the role of CEO in 2015 as Murrell transitioned to become Chairman of the Board, Lomedico continued to nurture the company’s culture of collaboration, accountability and ownership at every level. “You’ll often hear me ask, what if


you were the only one who could affect the outcome of a situation – how would you do things differently?,” Lomedico said. “Te mindset is, don’t bring up a problem unless you have the solution.” Te comprehensive, team-based


hiring process at Giroux focuses on identifying people who fit into that company culture and mindset – individuals who are collaborative, driven to succeed, and want to be an owner “whether they understand what that is or not,” Lomedico said. “We can teach skills, but it’s more about the attitude and personal attributes.” It helps to have a sense of humor as


well, she added. “Tere’s a lot of stress in this industry. To be able to laugh


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