Founded by Gene Renner in 1964, Delden Manufacturing Co. is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The garage door company has been led by Renner’s daughter, Denise Dahms, since 2003.
Delden has more than 100 employees and six branches in the Midwest. Why has it lasted 50 years?
“We have a good team, and we’ve always had very little turnover in management,” Dahms said. “Over 20 percent of us have been here over 20 years.”
The impact of such longevity is that “everyone has come up through the ranks doing different jobs,” she said. “So we all know not only the jobs that we do today, but the jobs that other people do. We all wear a lot of hats, including myself.”
When Delden began a half century ago, it manufactured simple wooden garage doors in Kansas City. Since then, the company’s product line—available at both wholesale and retail—has come a long way to meet customers’ evolving expectations regarding materials used and overall appearance.
“A garage door is now so much more,” Dahms said. “The aesthetics of most houses are dominated by their garage door. It’s like the new entry door. People don’t use their front doors anymore. They use their garage doors.”
