Celebrate family: meet some father-son duos working together at Renewal by Andersen

All across the renewal by Andersen network, there are family members working together—something that we love to see. We always tell our homeowners that the very best praise we could ever receive is them recommending us to their friends and families…and that holds true for our employees. There’s not a higher honor as an employer than seeing your employees tell their loved ones, “Hey, this is a great place to work!”

Over the years, we’ve highlighted several family teams…most recently some family installation teams, which we showcased in March to celebrate Women in Construction. This June, we thought we’d give a nod to Father’s Day and showcase a few of our father-son duos working in the Renewal network.

Meet the Nystroms and the Bazalas!

The Nystroms

Meet the team of Charlie and Andy Nystrom. Both Charlie and Andy work at Andersen’s Fibrex® composite material extrusion plant in North Branch, Minnesota. 

Charlie has been with the company for almost 15 years, and Andy for 5. Both work side-by-side to create Fibrex® window lineals, which are predominantly used down in Renewal by Andersen’s Cottage Grove manufacturing plant for window assembly.

If they look familiar, it’s because you may recognize them from their video debut. Last year, the pair gave Renewal brand ambassador, and HGTV star, John Colaneri a tour of the North Branch facility as part of a digital series "Behind the Glass with John Colaneri".

Andy says he has learned a lot from his father, and that feeling of family is felt not just on his particular production line, but throughout the entire building. 

“It definitely helped being able to learn from him...But everybody learns from everybody here…everybody tries to help each other,” he says.   

The Bazalas

Pittsburgh Branch General Manager Mike Bazala has been with Renewal by Andersen since 2001. He started as an installer and worked his way up to his current role. 

Mike’s drive and passion clearly is a heritable trait, as his son Michael Bazala III is following similar career path. Five years ago, Michael started with Renewal as a canvasser out of the Pittsburgh branch.  

It was a foot in the door that came thanks to his dad, how told him about the opportunities with Renewal. “I took a leap and jumped into that, and it paid off. I am really thankful to my father for opening that opportunity for me," Michael says.

Today, father and son work in overlapping circles, although different departments and organizations. Michael is now a Talent Marketing Coordinator on the Centralized Talent Marketing Team, which is a company-wide department, and operates out of Renewal HQ in Cottage Grove, MN. The father-son pair do still get to work together on certain things, and it’s always an opportunity to connect. It’s also a great way for Mike to watch his son flourish in his career, all on his own.

"He’s working his way up through the ranks just like I did, and I am super proud of Michael. I love that he takes it seriously and it’s not just a job to him," says Mike.