Gary E. Milgard*

Gary Milgard was born in 1936 in Tacoma, Washington, where his father was working as a bookkeeper for a glass company. Until his birth, his mother had worked as secretary to the warden of the state penitentiary, which is located on an island in Puget Sound. She was the only woman allowed to be ferried to the prison.

When Milgard was seven, he moved with his parents to a small, modest house on a lake. The rural location was heavenly for a young, active boy. He fished and explored the woods daily. He also mowed lawns and raked leaves to make extra money. When he was 14, Milgard got a job at a grocery store and worked there throughout high school to pay for his clothes and to save for a boat that he could use on the lake. When he was 16, he bought a 1941 Plymouth for $100.

Although he did not like school, Milgard was athletic and loved sports. He was the only high school sophomore to play varsity basketball. He also participated in track and placed second in the state for the high jump during his senior year.

Milgard attended the University of Washington and majored in business. To make money, he sold printed dance cards. By the end of his sophomore year, however, he was floundering in his classes. He lacked the motivation to apply himself and finally gave up and left school. He had a summer job working for a wholesale grocer and thought about making a career out of the grocery business. But Milgard's father, who by then co-owned a small retail glass shop, had received an order of aluminum storm doors and asked his son to try to sell them for him.

Milgard had never made a sales call in his life, but he went to see the buyer for a large hardware company that had several stores in the Seattle area. When the doors sold quickly, he and his father knew this was an opportunity they couldn't resist, and they agreed to sell the doors on a wholesale basis.

Two years later, in 1958, Milgard and his father started their own glass company. He had $1,700 in savings, and his father had $3,500, which they pooled to rent a small warehouse. They hired one employee and bought a red truck. Four years later, Milgard left his father and brother to run the glass business while he set up shop as a window manufacturer. Milgard Manufacturing, whose truck fleet had grown to 600 red trucks, became the largest supplier of residential windows in the western United States.

The National Association of Home Builders selected Milgard's vinyl windows as the best in the country in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003. In 1994, the state of Washington named Milgard Entrepreneur of the Year.

Milgard often told young audiences at the University of Washington, "If you only accomplish a fraction of what you're capable of, you will be astounded at what you can do. My advice is not to just go out and look for a job. Look for something where you can distinguish yourself. Excel at what you do and the opportunities will come to you."