Firm Description

JELD-WEN was founded by Richard ”Dick” Wendt, an entrepreneur at heart, who learned the art of managing a manufacturing company under the tutelage of his father, Caradco executive Lester Wendt. In 1957, Iowa-based Caradco sent Dick to Oregon to help run the company’s millwork plant in Klamath Falls. Caradco decided to sell the plant at auction. Dick and four business partners, Larry Wetter, John Biehn, Gerry Wickersham, and Bill Taylor bought many of the assets on October 25, 1960 and named the new company JELD-WEN. The JELD-WEN Foundation was and continues to be dedicated to providing financial assistance through grants, scholarships, and matching JELD-WEN employees’ voluntary United Way donations. Today JELD-WEN employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide and has manufacturing and distribution locations across the United States and in more than 20 countries.