Starting in June of 1988 I began working for Midwest Glass Company at 1041 W. Jackson Blvd. as an all glass door fabricator and machinist. Within months after joining the company on an entry level position I was moved to a drivers position accompanying the glaziers out in the field. During this time I was provided with first hand, hands on knowledge of the installation of glass and aluminum. I continued on in this position for about a year and was working with the best in the business. The men I worked with had an average of 25 to 40 years in the trades. Midwest Glass Company was the premier glass company at that time employing 70 or 80 people.
After working at the company for about a year and a half I was promoted to the shop foreman's position where I oversaw the glaziers, sheetmetal workers, glass cutters, drivers and shop help. It was an imposing position that came with a lion's share of responsibility. It was a hard fought battle to gain the respect of the men working under me because of my age. I was never deterred and eventually gained the respect of all. I typically had 50 to 60 people to supervise and schedule. In addition, I worked throughout the shop cutting glass and fabricating metal. At one point our lead salesman went on vacation and I asked if I could take some stops. The first stop I had was a building at LaSalle and Washington that required a large scale wire glass replacement. I bid on the job and to the surprise of many I landed it. It was a $130,000 glass job that they said I would never get. Throughout the prosecution of the work I kept a very close eye on it, pushing my men to do well. We eventually made $45,000 profit on the job. Much to my surprise I was given a $100 cash bonus; I had anticipated much more. With the type of money the tradesmen were making and the blood, sweat and tears I provided it was a constant battle with a frugal owner to get my due. Eventually it lead the owner to tell me, "Abe , you will never be happy until you own your own business." With that being said, I left Midwest Glass in 1994 and went to work for an environmental remediation company as a site and safety supervisor and machine operator from 1994 to 1995.
In 1995 through March of 1996 I tried working at a multitude of different companies, getting the job at every one I applied to. I could not take working for anyone else anymore so I decided to start Midwest Building Services Inc. with some money saved and a brand new Mustang GT convertible. I started the company working out of the trunk of my car. I had a partner named Joe Vitulli whose father had a fence and general contracting business. Joe's father provided us with some work to get going and we were into anything and everything. About six months later Joe decided it wasn't for him and I bought him out for $1.00. At that time I called on my long time friend and current partner, George C. Rizos, to come on board and make a go of it. His tenacity, hard work and dedication provided the company with the back bone it needed. In the early days I would sell and install all of the jobs, showing George the skills he needed to perform on his own. George is my ace in the hole. If something has gone wrong and no one can do the job he will find a way to get it done. George has been my partner since 1997, and through hard work, honesty, and dedication the company has moved forward every year. In 2003 the registered agent that we had failed to send in our annual corporate report and we subsequently lost our name. It wasn't a bad thing necessarily since we needed a name more suited to the type of work we specialize in. We wanted to get away from the general contracting side. Thus, Midwest Contract Glazing was formed. The company has come a long way from its inception out of the trunk of my car to a storage space, garages and to a small 3000 square foot building on Laramie and eventually to the 54,000 square foot building that now houses MCG.
With dedicated, honest and hardworking employees and a team consisting of a great bank, lawyer, accountant and insurance broker backing us, we intend to be the premier glass and glazing contractor in the city of Chicago. It looks like I am proving my old boss right on a daily basis.
We get the job done!
