By Cindy Ladage
The Midwest Garage Door Company located on Highway 104 in Pawnee has been in business for 20 years. “We opened in November of 1994,” Jon Stewart, Vice President and owner said.
The company was started by Jon’s father, Dewy Stewart. “Dad worked for garage door companies running plants for manufacturers, then in Springfield, Illinois.”
Working for a sister company that produced garage doors, Jon said one day his dad woke up and said, “I’m done working for other people, and that is the day the Midwest Garage Door Company started.”
“He had the background and the will power,” Jon added about his father, to get the company off the ground. Jon has memories as early as age eleven of helping his father. He remembers helping load the first truck and working in their original building which has changed and expanded over the years.
Jon admits working in the garage door industry was not his initial dream. “I didn’t care about it back then. But I helped every chance I could. I went to college and was going to start my own business. Then instead, I came back and started working here. I enjoy it.”
His favorite aspect of the job he said is working with the customer. “I like fulfilling their needs and providing the utmost satisfaction. But not the long hours,” he joked.
Since COVID-19, his parents who have been semi-retired have had to come back to work to keep up with the demand! “We have needed them. We have been the busiest ever.”
The business has grown over the years for the father and son team that have worked hard to expand over time. A couple mile markers over time include that in 1997, Midwest Garage Door Company became the only dealer in the Springfield area to receive the status of IDEA Accredited Dealer from the Institute of Door Dealer Education and Accreditation, and they remain the only Accredited Dealer in the area today.
Today they employee 19 individuals and Jon said they really could use four more experienced ones as well! Experience is important at Midwest Garage Door, they have their garage door installers go through a training program. On their website they state, “Midwest Garage Door Company is the only company in the Springfield area to have certified installers who have earned their certification through the Institute of Door Dealer Education and Accreditation. All non-certified installers are registered in the program and must be certified upon reaching their two years of experience.”
Midwest Garage Door is an award-winning company. The Springfield Journal Register gives out their Reader’s Choice awards and this year they again won the 2020 Reader’s Choice Award. They have won the last several years as well. Jon very much appreciates this award that is selected by the people and customers which makes it selected by the most important judges of all.
They offer a variety of garage door services. One important fact to know is that they offer emergency garage door service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They will fix the doors even if they did not install the door. They offer a wide variety of doors for different styles of garages and sell doors for bigger buildings like farm sheds and more.
While the title of the company is garage doors that is not the only thing, they offer at Midwest Garage Door Company. Besides the garage door repair, sales and installation, they also offer retractable awnings, shading products, solar shades for windows, doors, patios, and pergola systems.
Jon added, “We also do custom garage cabinets.”
At Garage Door Company, they serve both residential and commercial customers. Residential customers are mostly in a 75-mile radius of Pawnee, while the cabinet customer list seems to be more a 150-mile radius. “Our commercial customers are statewide and occasionally in other states. We have done work in Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, West Virginia, and we even sold doors to a military base in Hawaii.”
Jon said he offered to deliver the doors and install them himself in Hawaii, but sadly they didn’t take him up on his offer!
Being part of the Pawnee business community has been a good thing. “The town has been pretty supportive along with the Village. We are happy to be in Pawnee,” Jon said.
For details on products and service, log onto www.midwestgaragedoor.com. They offer special pricing that you can find on their website as well. Call 217-625-4033 for more information about what Midwest Garage Door Company has to offer.
The Midwest Garage Door Company located on Highway 104 in Pawnee has been in business for 20 years. “We opened in November of 1994,” Jon Stewart, Vice President and owner said.
The company was started by Jon’s father, Dewy Stewart. “Dad worked for garage door companies running plants for manufacturers, then in Springfield, Illinois.”
Working for a sister company that produced garage doors, Jon said one day his dad woke up and said, “I’m done working for other people, and that is the day the Midwest Garage Door Company started.”
“He had the background and the will power,” Jon added about his father, to get the company off the ground. Jon has memories as early as age eleven of helping his father. He remembers helping load the first truck and working in their original building which has changed and expanded over the years.
Jon admits working in the garage door industry was not his initial dream. “I didn’t care about it back then. But I helped every chance I could. I went to college and was going to start my own business. Then instead, I came back and started working here. I enjoy it.”
His favorite aspect of the job he said is working with the customer. “I like fulfilling their needs and providing the utmost satisfaction. But not the long hours,” he joked.
Since COVID-19, his parents who have been semi-retired have had to come back to work to keep up with the demand! “We have needed them. We have been the busiest ever.”
The business has grown over the years for the father and son team that have worked hard to expand over time. A couple mile markers over time include that in 1997, Midwest Garage Door Company became the only dealer in the Springfield area to receive the status of IDEA Accredited Dealer from the Institute of Door Dealer Education and Accreditation, and they remain the only Accredited Dealer in the area today.
Today they employee 19 individuals and Jon said they really could use four more experienced ones as well! Experience is important at Midwest Garage Door, they have their garage door installers go through a training program. On their website they state, “Midwest Garage Door Company is the only company in the Springfield area to have certified installers who have earned their certification through the Institute of Door Dealer Education and Accreditation. All non-certified installers are registered in the program and must be certified upon reaching their two years of experience.”
Midwest Garage Door is an award-winning company. The Springfield Journal Register gives out their Reader’s Choice awards and this year they again won the 2020 Reader’s Choice Award. They have won the last several years as well. Jon very much appreciates this award that is selected by the people and customers which makes it selected by the most important judges of all.
They offer a variety of garage door services. One important fact to know is that they offer emergency garage door service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They will fix the doors even if they did not install the door. They offer a wide variety of doors for different styles of garages and sell doors for bigger buildings like farm sheds and more.
While the title of the company is garage doors that is not the only thing, they offer at Midwest Garage Door Company. Besides the garage door repair, sales and installation, they also offer retractable awnings, shading products, solar shades for windows, doors, patios, and pergola systems.
Jon added, “We also do custom garage cabinets.”
At Garage Door Company, they serve both residential and commercial customers. Residential customers are mostly in a 75-mile radius of Pawnee, while the cabinet customer list seems to be more a 150-mile radius. “Our commercial customers are statewide and occasionally in other states. We have done work in Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, West Virginia, and we even sold doors to a military base in Hawaii.”
Jon said he offered to deliver the doors and install them himself in Hawaii, but sadly they didn’t take him up on his offer!
Being part of the Pawnee business community has been a good thing. “The town has been pretty supportive along with the Village. We are happy to be in Pawnee,” Jon said.
For details on products and service, log onto www.midwestgaragedoor.com. They offer special pricing that you can find on their website as well. Call 217-625-4033 for more information about what Midwest Garage Door Company has to offer.
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