Miranda Pederson/Daily NewsOwner Alan Cannon stands in a model of a replacement window at Capitol Window and Door on State Street.

Each week, the Daily News profiles a locally owned business.

Name of business: Capitol Window and Door

Location: 202 State St.

Type of business: Manufacture and install replacement windows and doors, storm windows and doors and produce new construction windows.

When did it open? 1956

Owners: Alan and Jane Cannon

Number of employees: 16

Specialty: As a local manufacturer, we offer our customers the largest selection of quality, maintenance-free replacement windows and doors in the area. We offer a wide variety of styles and colors. We specialize in projects others can’t or won’t do.

How did the business get started? Capitol was founded in 1956 by William J. Cannon and J. Lewie Harmon Jr. It has been a closely held family business since that time. In the early days, Capitol manufactured aluminum window blinds and cleaned rugs and carpets. In the early 1960s, Capitol began manufacturing storm window and door products. We have been manufacturing replacement and new construction windows since 1978.

What is your background? I started on the ground floor at Capitol with a broom in my hands as a teenager. After graduating from Western Kentucky University in 1977, I worked in hospital finance management for seven years. I joined my father’s business in 1983 and purchased the business from him in 1988.

What are your biggest challenges as a business? Increasing energy prices present both a challenge and a great opportunity. Most people don’t realize that vinyl windows are made primarily from crude oil. Increased cost of raw materials as well as the transportation costs associated with them represents a significant obstacle to our future business. However, as energy prices rise, energy efficiency has become a primary concern to our customers. We offer a full range of products that can help keep those costs down.

What’s your business philosophy? “A trusted name to improve your home since 1956” is more than just a tag line, it is the end result of making quality the primary component of everything that we do. We have been, and continue to be in the home improvement business for the long haul. You don’t make it in the long run by sacrificing quality for gains in the short run.

What issues are affecting your industry? Strong price competition has created increasing pressure on manufacturers to provide their products at lower and lower prices. This pressure to provide low-cost products has resulted in many unacceptably low-quality products being brought to market. We feel that it is both our ethical responsibility and necessary to our long-term business model to refuse to offer these low-quality products and to educate our potential customers how to recognize these products and to understand the long-term costs.

What are the factors that make your business successful? Our ability to manufacture many of our products locally gives us a competitive advantage over our competition, both through decreased transportation and shipping costs as well as greater quality control and the efficiency of our window designs. From a sales point of view, we believe our quality of installation, integrity and the knowledge of our staff directly contributes to the high level of customer loyalty and satisfaction that has made our business model so successful.

How do you handle competition? Competition is an inevitable challenge to any business, but it also challenges us to provide better products and service. We have found that viewing competition as motivation to strive for constant improvement rather than as someone trying to “steal our business” keeps us grounded and reminds us that although we are in business to make a profit, we are ultimately here to serve the needs of our customers.