Select Glass opens in Westminster: What they can do for you

The owners of Select Glass, which opened in Westminster in May, are serious about going the extra mile for their customers.

After years of working for others, Jeff Dursa and Peter Pearson said they began kicking around the idea of starting their own business about a year ago.

"We decided we were old enough and experienced enough and it was time to go out on our own and forge our own path," said Dursa, who lives in Westminster.

Together, the two bring a wealth of expertise to their projects, with Dursa's more than 10 years of commercial glass experiences, and Pearson's 15 years-plus in the residential construction field.

"I actually have owned a couple businesses in the past, and I really liked it, but one of the only problems that I had was actually finding good help," said Pearson. "And when I heard Jeff was interested in starting something, I was intrigued and wanted to jump on board."

Owners excited to forge their own path

Dursa admitted to feeling a bit of hesitancy at the idea of leaving the security of working for an established employer and striking out on his own, but the appeal of designing his own projects proved too irresistible to pass up.

"It was scary, but it's exciting to be able to forge your own path and do your own thing," he said. "It's exciting to take a space that has nothing and create something there."

Pearson said he believed it was his and Dursa's attention to detail that have helped make Select Glass unique in the industry.

"That customer service aspect is something that has been lacking - a lot of (contractors), as soon as they're done, they just want the paycheck and hit the bricks - but I definitely want to make sure that our customers are satisfied with the work," Pearson said. "And that obviously will bring in more work through referrals and word-of-mouth."

Pearson, who lives in Ashburnham, and his wife, Stephanie, have been busy establishing the new company's presence on social media.

"Our Facebook presence has been pretty good; we've been getting a lot of likes and shares," Dursa said. "My background is in commercial projects, but with the website up and running, we're going to focus on residential work right now."

New business owners see opportunity with local construction, renovations

Serving the New England area, Select Glass offers services covering everything from new construction to renovations. The company's specialties include storefronts, aluminum entrances, custom glass shower enclosures, and all glass walls and doors, according to Dursa.

With a lot of new construction in the area, Dursa said there was clearly a need for glass experts in the region.

"It seems like every time I drive around, I see a new neighborhood where they're putting in a new subdivision or somebody cleared a lot and they're putting in a single house," he said. "Westminster, Ashburnham, Templeton - there's a lot of building going on everywhere."

Popular glass products

The growing popularity of all-glass, walk-in shower enclosures, whether installed in new homes or renovated in older ones, has meant there is a lot of work out there for custom glass workers, Dursa said.

"It seems like most people are getting away from bathtubs," he added.

Glass tabletops and vinyl window glass replacement were other popular trends for residential customers, while glass waterfalls in lobbies, glass railings, and glass walls and dividers were increasingly popular among commercial clients, according to Dursa.

Although Dursa and Pearson were Select Glass's only employees at the moment, the pair said they were looking forward to eventually hiring more workers in the near future.

"We want to be a company that takes care of its employees and their families and have a newer-style workplace where people are actually supported, as opposed to the old school mentality where you're just another number," Pearson said. "We want to feel appreciated and make sure our employees feel appreciated too."

Plans to open a local Select Glass showroom are also in the works, according to the owners, who said they were currently working out of a small commercial space in Fitchburg.

"We're planning on building a showroom in the future so that if somebody doesn't know exactly what they want, they can come in to some sort of a retail space and see what options there are, and see what they might like for their home," Pearson said.