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A high-end aluminum bi-folding door manufacturer, already popular in England and the Middle East, plans to open a U.S. headquarters in Venice.
The company, Origin Bi-Fold doors, will work out of a 6,000-square-foot factory and showroom with three employees, starting in May. Origin USA President Ben Halvorsen says the company hopes to hire 20-25 employees within three years. The family-run company, says Halvorsen, has $25 million in annual sales and 100 employees back in England, where it makes 30,000 doors a year. The firm also has an office in Dubai.
A British native who recently joined the company, Halvorsen says executives looked at several other places for a U.S. facility before they chose Venice — both in Florida and other states. But he says the region's weather, the lack of a state income tax and a friendly local business climate made the decision easy. “It's hard to beat the Gulf Coast,” Halvorsen tells Coffee Talk.
Cousins Neil Ginger and Victoria Brocklesby founded Origin in 2001. The goal from the start was to build practical, functional and weather-resistant doors that are also slim, sleek and fashionable. Now the doors are all that, plus fold and slide into almost any configuration. The doors also come in more than 150 colors. “The attention to detail is incredible,” says Halvorsen. “These doors are exceedingly gorgeous.”
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