Robert “J.R.” Usher

Window Nation, Baltimore, Md.

Age: 38

Beating the Labor Shortage: Kids aren’t leaving college with hopes of working in remodeling, so we need to be the ones taking initiative to bring them into the industry. And to that end, we’ve created an internship/apprenticeship program to develop new employees. We’re also more closely monitoring our competitors’ offerings to ensure competitiveness. And we’re increasing the time we spend on developing and training our installation teams to make sure they’re productive and happy. When we do hire, we make sure the new employee is here for a career.