Koonse Glass, still in the family

COLUMBIA, Mo. — When you think of a family business, you usually expect the reins to be passed down generation after generation, with the younger members being groomed by the older ones to someday take over. Although Silas Koonse is the third generation to take ownership of Koonse Class Company, he says he felt no pressure from dad Michael to do so.

“He never pushed me,” Silas says. “He wanted to make sure it was what I wanted to do.”

Koonse Glass Company opened on 300 N. Tenth Street in downtown Columbia in 1967 and has remained there ever since. The company helps customers out with “everything glass in the home,” including windows, doors and mirrors.

Silas’s grandfather Mel Koonse was the first proprietor of the company. He was then bought out by son Michael and Tom Fiegel, Silas’s uncle. Today, Fiegel continues to run the company along with Silas.

Silas worked at the shop for about five years before going off to college. After graduating, he worked for State Farm Insurance and Veterans United Home Loans, but he says going back to the family business was always something he considered.

“I did a number of years at a desk job, and that’s just not for me,” he says.

Silas brought up the idea of buying out his father’s share of the company, and the more they talked, the better it sounded.

“We started saying, ‘Man, this would be a good transition,’” he says.

Working at the glass company still has its fair share of desk work, Silas says, but he likes that he can be more hands-on with his work now.  He also says the company feels like family; he has known some of the people who work there since he was a kid.

Silas says that the smaller size of the business also gives customers a more personal experience.

“If they want something a little bit special, we can make that work for them,” he says.

There will be some changes to the company along with the change in management. Silas says there will be some modernizing and organizing of how they take in orders and conduct interior business. He also wants to expand the reach of what they work with, perhaps branching out to window tinting or auto work in the future.

“We’ve got great knowledge and resources, and I think that we can offer a wider variety of products and services,” he says.