Vice President Lauds Serious Materials for Work at Former Republic Plant

Serious Materials, the leading energy-saving building materials company in the U.S., welcomed United States Vice President Joe Biden along with United States Senators Dick Durbin and Roland Burris and Mayor Richard Daley to its most recently acquired windows manufacturing plant in Chicago. Vice President Biden, whose support played a pivotal role in the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), visited the high-performance window manufacturing plant to demonstrate his support for the creation of new green jobs through the American manufacturing of energy-saving building materials like SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass. 
“This is a story about how we inspire a better tomorrow. You're making some of the most energy-efficient windows in the world, I would argue, the most energy-efficient windows in the world,” said Vice President Joe Biden. Speaking to Serious Materials’ employees, Vice President Biden continues, “And you're not just providing for your family with the income you're making here; but by lowering energy bills, you're saving the families in Delaware, California, Mississippi, Maine -- you're saving all of them. You're saving people in public housing which are investing in weatherization. You're saving people on the bottom line of how much money they will have to care for their families.” 
A husband and father of 6, Frank Edwards was one of 260 workers abruptly laid off from his production supervisor position when the plant closed in December of 2008. “When I lost my job in December and couldn’t support my family that was the worst feeling in the world. It was awful. Then I heard what Kevin Surace was doing with our union to bring new energy-saving windows to our plant and restart it,” said Edwards, newly re-hired Serious Materials plant employee. “While I have not read all the words in the Recovery Act, I know I am standing here because of it. Thank you Mr. Vice President for helping me make my life whole again.”
“The dramatic turnaround of Serious Materials Chicago is a testament to what Congress and the White House can achieve when they work together,” said U.S. Senator Roland Burris. “To the working families here at the Serious Materials factory, folks around Illinois, and families across America: help is on the way."
"Today, because of the hard work and determination of many people, this factory is once again providing jobs for people at the very time jobs are most needed in our country,” said Mayor Richard Daley. “And, in part because of new federal tax credits for buyers of energy-efficient products such as the ones Serious makes, the future looks bright for the company, its employees and this community."
Republic Windows and Doors garnered national attention in December 2008 when it suddenly closed its doors, declared bankruptcy, and left over 260 people unemployed just before Christmas. At the end of February, Serious Materials acquired the assets of the former Republic Windows and Doors. The Company has since began to rehire former Republic workers and is quickly installing new equipment for the manufacturing of its SeriousWindows products and commercial glass, SeriousGlass. With this new plant, Serious Materials will be able to meet the increased demand for its super-insulating windows accelerated by funding made available through the ARRA for energy-efficient building projects. The Company intends to formally re-open the factory within the next 60 days, creating more green manufacturing jobs.
“It is a great honor to host Vice President Biden at our Serious Materials Chicago factory. Vice President Biden understands how devastating it can be to a community when factories close and jobs leave,” said Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials. “That is why I’m so proud to lead Serious Materials – a company that is re-opening factories, and creating the green-collar jobs that are the key to our economic future.”
With the upcoming reopening of former Republic Windows and last month’s reopening of former Kensington Windows in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, Serious Materials is on track to accelerate production for its SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass product lines by tenfold this year.
Replacement of existing windows with SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass could reduce the U.S. total energy use and carbon emissions by 200 million metric tons of C02 per year. Super-insulating, full-frame R-5 to R-11 windows exceed Energy Star requirements by up to four times and can reduce heating and cooling up to 50 percent, resulting in a 5 percent savings in national energy use. SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass support energy efficiency programs as outlined under The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) including: Weatherization (WAP), Green Federal Buildings, State Energy Program (SEP), Energy Efficiency Block Grants, Energy Tax Credit for Consumers, and Tax Deductions for Commercial Buildings.