PHENIX CITY, Ala. (WRBL) — Tuesday, Phenix City will be celebrating its newest corporate citizen and the remarkable transformation of what was a mostly vacant old denim factory.

Sierra Pacific Windows plant employees and East Alabama economic developers are set to show off the plant to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. She will be in Phenix City to celebrate the California-based window and door company’s massive investment in East Alabama.

Tom Takach is the president of Sierra Pacific Windows and can’t wait to greet the governor with what is already a success story before the first window or door is made in Phenix City.

“The first thing we are going to show her is the 45 people here who have been working on the building,” Takach said. “I think they are going to be really excited to see her, to say hello and show her what we have done.”

The last 18 months Sierra Pacific Windows has spent north of $60 million to purchase, remodel and retool the plant.

“We have redone everything with this building right out to the front door,” he said.

The main work was on the more than 600,000 square feet of manufacturing floor space.

“We walked in and we saw the potential,” said Superintendent Steven Ferguson. We realized there was a lot of work in front of us. We grabbed the bull by the horns and took off running with it.”

Even the old concrete floors that held denim spinners were addressed.

“This is 400,000 square foot of floor and we literally buffed the entire floor,” Takach said. “This thing is shinning. Painted the entire ceiling. New lights. I don’t even know the number of lights we put in. … It’s an amazing amount of work that’s been done.”

As bad as it was, it wasn’t the worst part of the campus.

“This is what we are calling Building No. 2. It was their dye shop. Stuff sticking from the ceiling. It was a mess. Now, it has our state of the art glass manufacturing equipment in there,” Takach said.

At the end of the day this is about jobs – and making windows and doors that will shipped across the Southeastern United States.

“We should have close to 100 people by the end of this year, beginning of 2025,” Takach said. “It’ll keep ramping up in 2025. I think by mid-year 2026, we’ll be pushing close to 300 people starting wage rate is right in that $20 an hour range and it goes up from there. More responsibility, more technical skill. You know, you’re getting into 24, 25, $26 an hour range.”

Travis Hauser is the plant manager.

“We look at those individuals and we’ll provide them with a good career opportunity for long-term advancement,” he said. “This is traditional manufacturing where people can learn these positions and it’s not something that is unattainable for most people. So if they have a good attitude and a good character, they’ll perform well in our environment.”