BCTC Students Tour Viwinco
This February, we had the pleasure of welcoming 38 students and two instructors from Berks Career & Technology Center (BCTC) for an exclusive tour of our facility.
BCTC is a career-focused institution that provides high-school and adult students with a high-quality, technical education and hands-on learning across 35 career programs in several career clusters, including Business & Information Technology, Communications, Construction, Engineering & Manufacturing Technology, Healthcare, Services, and Transportation.
Many students who visited our plant are enrolled in programs such as Building Construction Occupations, Carpentry, Electrical Occupations, HVAC/Refrigeration, Masonry, and Plumbing & Heating. All fields are directly tied to the window and door industry.
A Strong Partnership: Viwinco’s Contribution
Viwinco has a long-standing relationship with BCTC’s Construction programs, supporting their hands-on-learning initiatives through their student-built house projects.
For the past few years, Viwinco has worked closely with BCTC to provide high-quality, energy-efficient S-Series New Construction window and door packages for their custom-built homes. In the most recent project, students constructed a 2,400 sq. ft. home featuring Viwinco double-hung and picture windows. By working with Viwinco products, students gain hands-on experience in window and door installation—a valuable skill as they prepare for careers in construction and related trades.
Inside the Tour
Hosting a large group of students for an in-depth tour of our facilities is no small feat, but our team embraced the challenge!
The tour kicked off with an impressive demonstration of our OceanView impact-resistant window, as students watched a 2×4 launched from our pressure cannon slam directly into a double-hung OceanView Impact Resistant window. Following the demonstration, our R&D Manager answered student questions.
This demonstration provides a firsthand look at the strength and durability of our products—crucial for our hurricane-prone markets. Afterward, students were divided into two groups for an in-depth exploration of our complex manufacturing processes.
Skyler Barnes, our Chief Research & Development Officer, and Ben Manderachi, R&D Manager, led the first stop in our Research and Development building. They showcased the products currently undergoing testing, along with our Warehouse, 650 Patio Door, and Geometric Window departments.
From there, Jon Balthrop, Reliability Engineer, led a tour of the New Glass Shop, explaining the tempering and laminating processes. Meanwhile, Zach Kauffman guided the second group of students through our main building, highlighting the manufacturing lines, shipping, and more.
The groups then switched so that each student could experience all three buildings for a comprehensive hands-on experience to highlight every stage of our process. Though coordinating such a large group across multiple facilities was a challenge, the enthusiasm and engagement from the students made it all worth it!
As we toured the facility and engaged with instructors, Tim Fries, Building Construction Occupations instructor, emphasized the importance of showing students that career opportunities in the building materials industry extend beyond the construction site. They can apply their skills in a manufacturing environment like ours, turning what they’re learning at BCTC into a lasting career. Hosting BCTC students in our facilities was an incredible opportunity to connect them with real-world applications of their trade skills. Their enthusiasm and engagement made the tour a success, and we’re proud to continue supporting BCTC’s programs as they train the next generation of professionals!
