Past, Present, & Future
How it started…
Keystone Glass Company was founded in 1984 by John Thiel, Jerry Thiel, and Michael Miller. They were seasoned in the glazing industry and struck out on their own to start something new. It was a close-knit business built on strong friendships. They serviced residential and commercial properties in the Omaha and Council Bluffs metropolitan area and their first client commitment was to provide high quality craftsmanship and expertise in a timely manner. That mission has remained unchanged for nearly forty years.
John Thiel, Jerry Thiel, and Michael Miller
How it’s going…
Today, Keystone is led by its second generation of owners, Jason Epstein and Matt Shapiro. They strive to maintain the trade-focused approach to growing the company, both in the size of the workforce and scope of work being done. The company holds to its early core principles, which are central to who we are today.
We maintain a workforce of seventy to eighty full time employees across all disciplines within the project life cycle: sales and estimating, project management, service and installation, and administration.
Our client focus has narrowed to commercial glazing and we offer one of the broadest product catalogues in the area. Product offerings include structural curtainwall, entrances, storefronts, automatic doors and metal panels.
Our jobs range in scope from the small remodel work, strip malls and retail outlets that provided the foundation for the growth of the company to larger, more complex projects such as Methodist Women’s Hospital, Midtown Crossing at Turner Park, TD Ameritrade Park, Gallup University Campus, and the UNMC Durham Research Center, just to name a few.
Regardless of the size or scope of the project, we build strong relationships with both contractors and suppliers that allow Keystone Glass Company to continue to be Omaha’s first choice in glazing contractors.
Where we’re headed…
Our commitment to our clients, our focus on craftsmanship, and our reputation for quality have sustained us for forty years and serve as the foundation for the future. At the same time, we recognize that our business landscape is changing at ever increasing rates and that our company must remain flexible to be responsive to those changes.
In 2021, we began the initiative to give structure to this goal. We codified our Mission, Vision, and Values. We set Annual Strategic Priorities and implemented a Project-Based Employee Alignment strategy to point everyone in the same direction. Much of our WORK CULTURE webpage is focused on communicating these ideas to our current and prospective employees.
Jason Epstein and Matt Shapiro