The owner of KrisAlis Glass in Kemptville was honoured on Friday, April 26, at the second annual North Grenville Breakfast Banquet. Rob McNamara was the recipient of the Male Entrepreneur of the Year Award for being a staple in the North Grenville business community for over 20 years.
After learning the trade at Crystal Glass Canada in Edmonton, Rob decided to move back to Ontario. He went out on his own and started KrisAlis Glass in Prescott in 1992. In 1994, he saw an opportunity to expand his business to Kemptville and opened up his shop on VanBuren Street. With the growth in Kemptville, Rob eventually decided to sell his Prescott location and focus his efforts in North Grenville. “It was just me when I opened,” he remembers. “[We] have probably tripled in sales since the start.”
Rob now has six employees and a satellite location in Winchester. Rob loves how glasswork is so variable and that there is something new and different to work on every day. KrisAlis Glass specializes in glass for vehicles, home, and office renovations. If it has to do with glass, KrisAlis can most likely handle it.
“Now that it’s more diversified, it’s even more interesting,” Rob says. He was overwhelmed at first when he learned at the Business Breakfast that he was receiving the Male Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He says he was honoured to be chosen from a pool of other very successful businesses in the community. “I feel really good about it,” he says. “I’ve been here for a long time and there have been a lot of ups and downs. It makes it all worthwhile.”
