Downtown Kennewick company also considering move to Richland in fall

Kennewick’s Perfection Glass has acquired Yale Glass Company Inc. in Walla Walla and will begin serving more residents in the southeastern region of the state beginning in September.

Dennis Yale, who has owned Yale Glass Company for 40 years, approached Kennewick-based Perfection Glass in December 2016 as he neared retirement.

“We’ve known Dennis forever, and he’s a great guy, so we opened up negotiations,” said Robert Rojas, vice president and part owner of Perfection Glass. “We weren’t even thinking about expanding.”

Details of the acquisition weren’t disclosed.

Rojas said Perfection Glass was already doing a couple of hundred thousand dollars worth of business in Walla Walla annually, but the distance made it challenging to service the area. Plus, he emphasized, community loyalty is strong there.

“They buy local,” said Rojas, adding that Perfection Glass will keep the Yale Glass Company name for a while as it makes the transition and educates the community about the change. “We’re working with PS Media and we’re going to be hitting it hard,” he said.

Perfection Glass will keep as many employees who want to stay on, but Rojas said he knows a few have plans to retire. The location of Yale Glass at 904 N. Fourth Ave. also will stay the same. However, there will be some changes in the services provided, as Rojas and Perfection Glass’ majority owner, Shawn Linhoff, move forward this fall.

“Yale Glass Company’s primary focus was the commercial field. They did a small portion of (residential) work compared to us,” Rojas said. “That’s where our focus will be. There’s a lot of older homes that could use some upgrading—we’ll definitely be breaking into that field up there.”

Perfection Glass focuses about 65 percent of its time on residential work, he said. Commercial projects include an addition for Kadlec Regional Medical Center, the first phase of Trios Southridge Hospital and Westgate Elementary.

Last year Perfection Glass recorded about $13.1 million in sales, which Rojas said is fantastic for an area the size of the Tri-Cities.

“We’re very pleased and poised to do the same, if not more, this year,” he said.

Perfection Glass, which was started 40 years ago by Shawn’s father, Ron Linhoff, moved to its current location in downtown Kennewick in the late 1970s. The company has grown in size and services, and today it sells and installs windows, doors, shower doors and mirrors, along with a wide variety of commercial and residential glass. Recently, the company added Dynamic Glass to its offerings.

“The glass system itself … comes sealed and all the glass plugs in together—so you can change the glass system to allow more natural heat to come into the building,” Rojas said. “It’s almost like the glass itself is what’s changing. You can change the window depending on the weather type.”

The glass is expensive, and it’s been a learning experience for the team, which installed its first Dynamic Glass panels on the Columbia Basin Health Association building in Othello.

“We’re happy with how the project’s progressing,” Rojas said.

Perfection Glass has a similar project lined up in Chelan and expects more builders—even residential contractors—to look at Dynamic Glass as an option.

“I think what you’re going to find with Dynamic Glass, our views are amazing around here, and when you tint the window, you darken it up and don’t have a clear view, but when you can control the glass a bit, you’re going to be extremely surprised what it will do for a view,” Rojas said.

In Kennewick, Perfection Glass currently occupies four buildings to manufacture the windows it installs.

“We have a machine that can cut and drill our metal for commercial projects, but that machine is so large it has to be in one warehouse, and then you need to take the parts to another building to put them together,” he said.

The company has 58 employees and 36 trucks and is running at capacity in the Tri-Cities, which is why the owners plan on making a change locally soon after the Walla Walla business is up and running.

In October, Perfection Glass plans to consolidate its manufacturing processes and operate under one roof. Rojas said they’ve got their eye on a location in Richland with a 15,000-square-foot building. But before they can think that far ahead, they want to ensure Walla Walla customers are taken care of.

“It should be an easy transition. We use the same equipment, and we may have to hire some new installers, but we can train here in the Tri-Cities,” said Rojas, who’s said he’s excited about the changes and growth ahead for Perfection Glass. “We plan to make a big presence in Walla Walla.”