Hillcrest Glass LLC to Expand Into a Second Location After Experiencing Rapid Growth

Hillcrest Glass LLC is expanding into a second location after experiencing  rapid growth in the commercial side of its business over the past couple of years.

The Longmont-based company, which specializes in commercial and residential glass installations, has leased about 9,000 square feet of warehouse space at 3762 Puritan Way in Frederick.

The new space will house the commercial side of Hillcrest's business, while the residential portion will remain at the original location at 504 Fourth Ave. in Longmont.

Lisa Sklar, who purchased the 44-year-old company with her husband, Michael, in 2007, said the expansion came mainly because the commercial side of the business had outgrown Hillcrest's current home, which is about 7,000 square feet. Hillcrest's annual revenue reached $2.5 million in 2012, a 67 percent increase during a two-year period. That figure landed the company No. 21 on the Boulder County Business Report's Mercury 100 list of the fastest-growing private companies in Boulder and Broomfield counties with revenue of more than $2 million.

"Business is booming, thank goodness," Lisa Sklar said Thursday.

How quickly things can change.

The Sklars thought they were really on the right track when they purchased Hillcrest and doubled sales in their first year. Then the recession punched the entire construction industry in the gut.

"It was really tough," Lisa Sklar said. "We think the reason we survived it pretty well is that we have both residential and commercial. We're still here because our diversity really helped us out. We got a little here and a little there."

That resilience is paying off.

Sklar said the recent growth is due mostly to a substantial increase in commercial jobs, including higher end jobs as the economy improves and businesses shift to remodeling rather than fixing what they have. An increase in tenant finish work at office buildings in Boulder that have sat empty during the recession has been a big driver.

Sklar estimates that the number of jobs Hillcrest is being asked to bid on has approximately doubled since the tough recession years.

Some of the buildings where Hillcrest has done glasswork recently include Fate Brewing Co. in Boulder and the Microsoft/Bing offices in downtown Boulder, for which Hillcrest recently won a Colorado Glazing Contractors Association award.

Hillcrest, which opened in 1969, has 23 employees. Sklar said the expansion doesn't include adding any jobs at this time

The location in Frederick, Sklar said, gives Hillcrest easier access to Interstate 25, a convenience given that much of their work is in Denver.

"We felt like it was a good time to jump off and do it," Sklar said.