Progress Illinois

On his swing through Chicago today, Vice President Joe Biden credited the owners of Serious Materials for providing "a story about how we inspire a better tomorrow" through their decision to reopen the former Republic Windows and Doors plant. For evidence that the Goose Island factory is coming back to life, look no further than the dozen former Republic employees who are back on the job. Addressing CEO Kevin Surac during his remarks at the plant this morning, Biden explained why the country needs more businesses like Serious to rebuild the economy:

BIDEN: It's not merely that you have the science, technology and innovation to turn a failed factory into a potentially thriving business that can lead this county ... You've done something that is a little unusual. You recognized, as Sen. Durbin said, that the greatest asset that this factory had was the men and women, the workers that just spoke. And instead of doing what has too often been the case in the last 10 to 15 years, you reached out to the most qualified workers in the the world. Instead of saying 'If you want to come back, I'm going to break your union,' you said 'Come back, union and all.' That's a big deal.

As more orders for energy efficient windows start rolling in -- and the owners are confident they will, thanks to the $8 billion in stimulus funds committed to weatherization and retrofitting -- Serious has pledged to rehire each of the 250 employees who were abruptly thrown out of a job when Republic shut it doors back in December.  Furthermore, Serious hopes to eventually grow its Chicago-based workforce to 600.

And there's more to come, according to a White House release:

As part of the rehiring process, the company plans to provide special training for workers on the manufacturing of these energy-efficient materials.  Serious Materials believes the reopening of the factory could eventually help put 2,000 people to work, with 600 workers on the factory floor and nearly double that number at work installing the energy-efficient windows at job sites.

As we've said before, the respective business philosophies driving Republic Windows and Serious Materials provide a stark contrast. As Republic bailed on its longtime workforce to open a cheaper, non-union shop in Iowa, Serious saw opportunity in hiring skilled, union-wage workers to create a quality product that is in increasing demand.

In the end, the Republic owners' Iowa venture failed.  Meanwhile, Serious is on the upswing.

Via CLTV, here is some video of Biden touring the factory along with Carl Rosen, President of the Western Region of the United Electrical Workers Union (UE) and Local 1110 President Armando Robles, among others:

Image courtesy of Flickr user ueunion.