ST. GENEVIEVE, MO - Lucent Window and Door will begins production as it re-opens the former BiltBest Windows plant near St. Louis December 9. 

Lucent Window and Door, LLC acquired the 200,000 square foot plant near St. Louis in August, with carefully drawn plans for producing all-wood and metal-clad wood windows aimed at the high end residential remodeling market.

Tom Bruggeman, one of the principals of the investment group reopening the plant, says the former BiltBest Windows & Doors operation was left in turn-key production operation state, with equipment lines intact. BiltBest, founded in 1955, ceased operations in April 2011. 

"All they needed was a little oil and they were ready to roll," Bruggeman said. The 221,000 square feet of production space is situated on 14.6 acres of land in St. Genevieve, MO, about 46 miles outside St. Louis.

The Missouri Workforce Investment Board, which assists in job applicant screening and tax incentives for on-the-job training programs, worked with Lucent Window and Door Co. in its relocation to Ste. Genevieve. Bruggeman says the business plan calls for eventually employing 205 workers. He says the window replacement market Lucent serves is much larger than the new construction market.