Thomas Chen, Crystal WindowQueens, NY The entrepreneurial success story of national manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems and its top executives CEO Thomas Chen and COO Steve Chen are among the stories featured in the third season of Crain’s New York Stories television show. The weekly program, which airs on the New York City Life regional cable network, highlights the success, failures, determination and resiliency of entrepreneurs across the city’s five boroughs of 8.5 million people. Crain’s publisher Jill Kaplan hosts the show, interviewing business owners on location to learn about their triumphs and struggles.
During the interview, Thomas Chen told his story of arriving in America in 1982 and working a variety of jobs, including as a part-time contractor installing residential window guards. As customers began requesting replacement windows at the same time,
Steve Chen, Crystal WindowChen segued to window fabrication and the company Crystal Window & Door Systems was born.
Today, the company sells 20 product lines nationally, has over 500 employees and has expanded its capabilities with production facilities in Chicago, St. Louis, Riverside (CA) and northeast Pennsylvania, in addition to its headquarters and flagship manufacturing facility in New York City.
Also during the episode, Steve Chen, who has been managing the day to day operations at Crystal and its subsidiaries for the past 10 years, accompanied Crain’s Jill Kaplan on a tour of the company’s flagship factory in Queens, NY, explaining the various equipment lines, production processes and options available with Crystal’s wide array of vinyl and aluminum products.
After its primetime airing on NYC Life TV in mid-October, the Crain’s New York Stories feature interview with Crystal can be viewed online at www.crainsnewyork.com/section/newyorkstories (Episode 2, Season 3) or at www1.nyc.gov/site/media/shows/crains-new-york-business.page (Season 3, Episode 2).
Crain’s New York Business, the leading New York business magazine, focuses on the New York business community, with important insights, analysis and opinion. Crain’s reports on emerging trends, interviews with thought leaders and industry experts, and coverage of commercial opportunities, economic changes, politics and more. NYC Life is part of NYC Media – the official TV, radio and on-line media network of the City of New York. The NYC Media broadcast network reaches 18 million people within a 50-mile viewing radius of New York.
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