Ownership history:
Burgess Snyder Industries began in 1948 when Jesse Burgess and Gustav Snyder formed Burgess Snyder Window Company. The new company sold storm windows and awnings from a small rented office in Norfolk, VA. In 1951 Jesse Burgess left the company but the business was established by then so the name remained the same. Gus Snyder died suddenly in 1969 and in 1971 Larry Vaughan, who had been with the company since 1955, bought the company from Mr. Snyder’s estate, keeping the Burgess Snyder name. In 1972, the company name was changed to Burgess Snyder Industries to better reflect the diverse range of products and services the company offered. Also in 1972, Tom Vaughan and Tom Johnson joined the company and began their careers in the glass and glazing industry. In 1977, the company moved operations to it’s current facility located on Baker Road in Virginia Beach, VA. By 1993, Larry Vaughan had transferred ownership to his children, Tom Vaughan and Linda Sawyer. Tom Vaughan, Tom Johnson and Linda Sawyer owned and worked in the organization for better than 30 years each and witnessed tremendous growth during that time. In 2011, ownership was transferred to the current, third geration team of Chris Johnson, Kelly Kesler and Randall Vaughan.
Operations history:
Burgess Snyder formed initially as a manufacturer and installer of residential storm windows, storm doors and awnings. Manufacturing operations were carried out in a facility on Ballentine Blvd. in Norfolk, VA. In 1977, the company moved to the current location on Baker Road in Virginia Beach, VA. Soon after the move, the decision was made to stop manufacturing products in-house and instead sell pre-manufactured products from a select group of vendors. This decision allowed Burgess Snyder to focus more on customer service and develop quality installation crews.
Once manufacturing was phased out, the company primarily focused on providing replacement windows, doors, storm product and patio enclosures to the residential market. Since Norfolk is home to the world’s largest Navy base, it wasn’t long before Burgess Snyder was called on to provide services on commercial projects – specifically buildings at the various local government and military facilities. Two departments within the company were established to service each segment of the market since the residential and commercial customers have very different needs. Within the commercial department, an estimating and drafting team was created so all bids, shop drawings and submittals could be controlled in house. The commercial side of the business continued to grow allowing Burgess Snyder the resources and skills to complete larger and more complex projects. By the late 1980’s, the commercial department became the driving force of the company. For more than 20 years, Burgess Snyder Industries operated both the residential and commercial departments, each having their own management, office and installation teams but the market changed and so in 2007 the residential side of the operation was closed. Now, Burgess Snyder has 100% of it’s resources focused on commercial projects and provides sales and installation of the following architectural products:
architectural aluminum windows
aluminum storefront
aluminum curtain wall
aluminum entrances
translucent panels
mirrors
skylights
architectural sunshades
glass canopies
aluminum canopies
glass entrances