File Photo: PGTI team members at the Venice location wearing the breast cancer awareness t-shirts in 2022

As MITER Brands takes over one Sarasota County’s most prominent manufacturers, company leadership will shift to Pennsylvania. No current leaders of PGT Innovations are set to join the board and MITER Brands is acquiring the North Venice-based window and door manufacturer outright.

But MITER Brands Digital Marketing Manager Nick Board said the company will be involved in the community in this region.

“We are committed to the communities in which we serve and operate out of. The North Venice campus will remain as one of our three operational support centers,” he said. “Bringing the PGTI family of brands gives us a true national footprint. Our team in North Venice is critical to our success is in the Southeast part of the country.”

PGT is best known as a top producer of hurricane-resistant custom windows and glass doors. The Sarasota County-based company and has a glass plant in North Venice and manufacturing plants there and Fort Myers. The company in 2014 also acquired CGI Windows and Doors in Hialeah. In 2021, PGT purchased a controlling stake in Eco Window Systems, including Tampa-based Eze-Breeze.

Amid acquisition talks, the publicly traded PGT saw its stock rise soar in December above the $40 per share price, and in January received an unsolicited purchase offer from MITER Brands. When the acquisition was announced last week, shares for PGT were priced at $41.99 per share, up about 83.7% from the prior year. KeyBanc Capital Markets announced shareholders in the acquisition will receive $42 per share. Analysts estimate the complete acquisition for the company cost at about $3.1 billion. The transaction was financed in part by an equity investment from an affiliate of Koch Equity Development, the principal investment and acquisition arm of Koch Industries.

That has left the question of what happens with the company locally.

Jeff Jackson, PGT’s president and CEO since 2018 and an executive at the company since 2005, will play no role at MITER Brands. PGT announced weeks ago that Jackson had been appointed to the board of Astec Industries, a manufacturer of specialized equipment for asphalt road building, aggregate processing and concrete production.

Board confirmed all executive leadership for the company will now operate out of MITER Brands’ corporate offices in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Some executives at PGT will likely retain positions, but none will immediately become part of the MITER Brands board.

But Board said the company won’t be a distant corporate entity. “We are an owner-operated company with ‘family first’ values, and our vision is to build most valued window and door brand in America,” Board said.

That echoed sentiments in a corporate press release when the acquisition was announced. “Our journey has always been about more than just windows and doors,” said Matt DeSoto, CEO of MITER Brands, in a statement. “It’s about reframing what is possible and creating unmatched value for our team members, customers, supply partners, and local communities. With PGT Innovations becoming part of our family of brands, we are excited to work together towards our vision of building the most valued window and door brand in America.”

No decision has been made about whether the company or any of its subsidies will be rebranded as MITER evaluates PGT’s existing business relationships. Board said much of the value in acquiring the PGTI family of companies is in the existing and profitable partnerships with other businesses in the Southeast U.S.

He also stressed the community work of the MITER Foundation, which was created in 2015. The nonprofit arm for the company has donated more than $15 million to charities since that time, with MITER employees logging 28,000 in community service hours. Board said community support has been one of the pillars for the foundation in deciding where to direct its resources.

File Photo: PGTI team members at the Venice location wearing the breast cancer awareness t-shirts in 2022