Ribbon Cutting

by Rob Glander, GWC President and C.E.O.

This past Wednesday, GWC hosted about 150 guests at the ribbon cutting and open house celebrating our new office.  Our Coal Street location in Wilkes-Barre, PA is the 4^th space GWC has occupied since its founding as Guardian Warranty 16 years ago.  Each move has represented an important step in the company’s growth. This beautiful space represents our company’s past success as well as our future aspirations.

Several years ago, Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton laid out a vision for the Coal Street complex that would rescue it from disrepair and restore the happiness of its glory days.  We were inspired by the Mayor’s commitment to this project and are proud to be part of this energizing community.  While we are a nationwide company, GWC Warranty is delighted to call the City of Wilkes-Barre our new home.

GWC Warranty now occupies more than 16,000 square feet of space which houses our claims administration, contract processing, and executive offices.  A 72-person training room gives us the ability to host high-level training programs for partners and employees.

The transformation of GWC’s headquarters itself took just about a year to complete.  Just 5 months ago we were standing in a completely undeveloped space.  We have many people to thank for turning that empty space into a world class office that our employees are proud to call home:

·         Coal Street Redevelopment (including John Aciukewicz)

·         The Wilkes-Barre City Council

·         Mayor Leighton and his staff (most notably John Koval, who worked out the details of this deal with us over several months)

·         The Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry (in particular, John Augustine who introduced us to this site last year)

·         Tony Bevilaqua from Sordoni Construction Services, who served as our construction manager

·         Jim Kline from Sordoni, who was the onsite superintendant every day during construction

·         Highland Associates, our Architects.  (In particular, Charlie Consagra who convinced us to go big and bold with the space.  Also, Denise Luikart from Highland, whose design genius can be found in every square inch of this space)

·         I’d also like to note that Jason Fondren, the artist who created the beautiful paintings in our gallery under a very tight schedule, made the trip over from New York to be with us for the opening.

·         Finally, Joe Brennan, GWC’s Vice President of Operations, who lived and breathed this project from its initial inception through this reception.  All in his spare time while doing his day job!  Thanks so much Joe.

GWC Warranty is proud to be a leading provider of vehicle service contracts in the U.S.  We bring the “No Worries.  Just Drive” experience to dealers and drivers nationwide.

And, we are thrilled to occupy this state of the art facility, from which we will continue to deliver that experience for our customers.

Moving Day

by Rob Glander, GWC President and CEO

I’m writing this surrounded by boxes, noise and the general commotion that accompanies a move. And I couldn’t be happier.

Today, GWC is relocating to an amazing new office at 40 Coal Street in Wilkes-Barre: 18,000+ square feet of exquisitely designed (thanks, Highland Associates) space above the number one sports franchise in NE PA (the Divisional Champion Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins). It will be the 5th space we’ve occupied since our inception 16 years ago and represents another growth-driven leap ahead for GWC.

And I have to share my pride a little bit: This new office is simply beautiful. From our state-of-the art Boardroom to our 72 person training room and every workstation in between, we have invested in a facility that befits our aspirations as a company.

Even more importantly, I am proud of our people. As I see everyone scurrying around packing and cleaning up, I am reminded of how much everyone cares about this company and how engaged they are. Special thanks to Mandy, Kelli and Georgiann, who took on some of the nastiest cleanups without any prompting, just because it had to be done. And kudos to Jeff who led the cable stringing, server room setup so we will be up and ready on Monday morning.

Finally, a particular shout-out to Joe Brennan, our Vice President of Operations, who for the past year has lived and breathed this project. Joe found the space, convinced us to take on the audacious task of building it out, negotiated our many contracts, oversaw the design and basically lived onsite for several months while the renovations were being done in record time (and within budget!) Joe, we all owe you a big debt of gratitude.

These are exciting times for GWC and we’re bursting at our seams to share that excitement with our great dealers and end customers. We’re all moving confidently ahead: “No Worries. Just Drive.”