Well-known to long-time Jacksonville residents, Lee & Cates Glass Inc. has been in business for 98 years. The family-owned business recently moved into its fourth generation of ownership by the Lee family as Thomas D. Lee IV took over the helm of the company from his father, Thomas D. “Tommy” Lee III.
What is not as well known is the company’s need for glaziers in the glass business, which company chief operating officer Mike Sobieski (Sew-Be-Eski) says is a “dying trade” but one that’s very important to Jacksonville’s growth.
“While commercial glaziers can be found for curtain walls or storefronts, the residential repair and replacement glaziers are simply not available,” he said.
A glazier is a tradesman who works with glass and glass substitutes and is responsible for cutting, installing, and removing glass of all kinds, including insulated glass windows, doors, displays, storefronts, and showers, among other things. They may also be required to install sashes or moldings and frameworks for installations and secure them with a variety of fasteners.
Lee & Cates Commercial/Contract Glazing division, which installs commercial storefronts and curtain walls, has 20 employees, seven of whom are glaziers. The company also operates seven glass retail stores that provide glass repair and replacement for residential homes, such as changing out the insulated glass in windows, installing glass in new frameless glass showers, and installing glass in sliding glass doors. Of the 73 employees in the retail stores, more than half, 42, are glaziers.
“Glazing is not a skill that people are generally born with, so we do look to hire glaziers who have gained this experience already…and most of them have strictly commercial experience,” Sobieski said. “Since people with glazing experience are so hard to come by, we decided to try training some of our own, especially for the residential repair and replacement, so that we can keep pace with the need among our customers.”
After attending several workshop events hosted by CareerSource Northeast Florida, Sobieski says the company decided to engage with the organization through its customized training program two years ago to train its own glaziers in-house.
Since then, Sobieski says they have trained about 16 new employees in the trade and expect to start their third class shortly.
“CareerSource Northeast Florida assists with funding the program for 12 weeks, but it can take up to a year for a glazier to be fully trained,” he said. “Our managers are hesitant to hire extra staff they don’t need, making training challenging. However, utilizing their Customized Training Program, which offset the cost of the training, has encouraged our stores to hire additional individuals to be trained as glaziers.”
Sobieski said the program allowed the company to hire and train employees without direct glazing experience.
“Without it, likely, we would only hire experienced glaziers, which takes time given how few have this experience in the marketplace,” he said. “In addition, it brought new people into our line of work – which is a great additional benefit to the industry and teaches these new employees a trade while increasing their pay as they learn.”
Sobieski, who held executive positions with companies such as Veritas Steel LLC and Bodycote, was considering semi-retirement when he joined the company six years ago – overseeing the operations of the company’s commercial division and retail stores.
“With our retail stores and commercial glazing division, Lee & Cates is an active builder in the community, and as we transition to a new generation of family ownership, I expect our company to continue in that role,” said company president and CEO Thomas D. Lee IV. “To do so, we need to look for innovative ways to upskill new and existing employees to keep pace with the growth in Jacksonville, which is why partnerships like the one with CareerSource Northeast Florida are important.”
Lee also notes that other companies looking for training support should contact the organization and see how it can help them – especially small businesses that can leverage the customized training program to receive funds to accelerate training that they might normally not be able to afford or have to be delayed due to budget constraints.
“It’s building on the whole idea of upskilling the local workforce, which is what we’ve been able to do with this program,” Lee said. “And, from a broader standpoint, it is helping the glass industry to have more glaziers on the job and learning a trade in such high demand.”
Photo caption: “The Customized Training Program with Career Source Northeast Florida allowed us to hire employees without direct glazing experience and train them,” said Lee Cates Glass Chief Operating Officer Mike Sobieski. “One of our recent trainees who works at our store in Yulee, Caleb VanDere (pictured here), has been a great asset to our team. Caleb is now measuring and installing insulated glass and shower glass. We are thankful for this program and what it has done for our company.”