Economists seem to release a new outlook on residential construction every other day. One might say it’s stabilizing, while another forecasts a slowdown.

But the current uncertainty of the new housing market hasn’t slowed growth at a West Des Moines window and door manufacturing company. Last week, Windsor Windows & Doors began production at its new 100,000-square-foot vinyl window factory. The building was completed in November after about six months of construction. The company continues to use its 250,000-square-foot plant and offices adjacent to the new building.

According to Tyler Roorda, Windsor’s vinyl windows production manager, his company expects to hire an additional 40 to 50 people this year due to the expansion.

Cathy Leonard, Windsor’s marketing and communications manager, said strong sales in recent years and the addition of a new product line prompted the company’s decision to expand.

“A lot of what fueled our growth in the early 1990s to 2005 was the strong housing market,” Leonard said. “This past year, things have taken a turn. But even though housing sales are down, our sales seemed to hold steady in 2006.”

Windsor Windows was founded in 1946 in Windsor Heights as Windsor Wood Working. A few years later, the company’s woodworking focus changed to windows. In 1978, Windsor relocated to its current site at 900 S. 19th St. in West Des Moines. In 1989, Windsor was bought by Fruitland, Idaho-based Woodgrain Millwork Inc., one of the largest millwork companies in the world.

Leonard said Windsor employed about 60 people when Woodgrain acquired it. Now, employment is nearing 700, with about 380 of those jobs at the West Des Moines headquarters. Another 300 employees work at Windsor’s other window factory in Monroe, N.C., which was added in 1992 when Windsor bought out another company’s operations. The purchase of the North Carolina plant expanded Windsor’s product line and began the company’s transition from a regional to a national company.

“When Woodgrain bought us, we only produced one type of window,” Leonard said. “By the late 1990s, we had three types, giving us a style for every part of the country.”

Windsor produces windows framed with wood, vinyl and cellular polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which looks like wood but doesn’t rot or crack. Windsor’s products are sold through 250 U.S. distributors. Gilcrest/Jewett Lumber Co. Inc. is the local distributor.

The success of Windsor’s vinyl Next Dimension windows led the company to expand its vinyl line Jan. 1 with a new product, Next Dimension Pro. The new window is a more economical version of the company’s original vinyl windows, which Leonard said are priced at the “higher end” of the vinyl spectrum.

“The Next Dimension product has really fueled our growth in the Minneapolis market, and the only complaint that we heard from builders is that they would like a more competitively priced vinyl window,” Leonard said. “We designed the Pro series to be builder-grade for multifamily complexes and spec homes.”

Leonard said the Next Dimension Pro costs about 12 to 15 percent less than the company’s original vinyl window. Much of the production work for the new line is done using new automated equipment, including a glazing system for making insulated glass, a process that was previously done off-site. Roorda said production of the new vinyl windows will start slowly and ramp up as sales increase.

With the opening of its new factory in West Des Moines, Windsor has moved its vinyl production equipment from its original manufacturing area to the new building. In addition to having significantly more space for vinyl window production, the move frees up space in the older building to expand production of wood windows.

“The wood windows are very popular in the West and really expanding,” Leonard said.

Steady sales of windows for new and remodeled homes is keeping the company optimistic about the future, Leonard said, even if residential construction activity does not rebound immediately to the robust level of 2005.

“I don’t think the changing market has caused concern,” Leonard said. “The company’s expectations for sales a year ago might be different than what we are seeing now, but we feel confident that our new window will be so well received that we won’t have any trouble supporting this new facility as we move into 2007.”