Page 2 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, FEbrUAry 2, 2024 ~ The Advocate Asks ~ Local elevator company president talks about how he wound up in Saugus and the flooding that threatens his business Editor’s Note: For this week’s interview, we sat down with Glenn E. Bowie, the president of Hamilton Elevator Interiors, Inc. at his warehouse on Belair Street in East Saugus. Bowie, 64, is a 1978 graduate of Malden High School who went to work for Hamilton Elevator Interiors 45 years ago as a welder and wound up buying the company about eight years ago. The company topped $4.2 million in sales last year. The company has a payroll of about 12 workers – including five in the shop, three in the office and four in the field. His 34-year-old son Scott is one of the shop workers. According to a company profile on its website, Hamilton Elevator Interiors originated in 1920. It has been designing, building and renovating custom elevator enclosures, interiors and entrances. In addition to running an elevator company, Bowie collects antique cars, enjoys photography and writes poetry and lyrics for music. He writes poetry and plays blues harmonica with John Butcher. Highlights from last week’s interviews follow. Q: So how did you wind up working most of your adult life in the elevator business? A: In 1979, I was working for a welder in Brookline. My brother and I were working for him, putting up a two-story building. The pope was coming to town. The whole city was shutting down, but we had to work. He was paying us crap, so we asked him for a raise and he said “no.” The same day I left, I responded to an ad for a job in Stoneham. They said they needed somebody with welding experience. It was an elevator company. It turned out to be a job where I fit right in, so I took the job. Q: How did you wind up THE HEART OF THE OPERATION: Glenn Bowie shows off the warehouse that holds the expensive machines that bend the metal, cut the various lengths of metal and punch holes in sheets of metal that become the components of elevators. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) Celebrating Our 52nd Year Dan - 1972 We Sell Cigars & Accessories! ALL MAJOR BRANDS Singles * Tins * Bundles * Boxes * Travel Humidors * Desk Top Humidors * Many Types of Lighters * Ash Trays * Juuls * Vapes * Glass Pipes * Rewards Program * CBD Infused Products * GIFTS UNDER $30 - GIFT CERTIFICATES STOCK-UP EARLY FOR CIGARS & ACCESSORIES! SUPER BOWL SUNDAY IS FEBRUARY 11th WINTER STORE HOURS: OPEN DAILY 7 DAYS A WEEK, 9AM - 6PM R.Y.O. TOBACCO & TUBES ON SALE! WE MAKE HOUSE KEYS! Green Label Cigar Sale! Buy 2 Cigars, Get One FREE! A.B.C. CIGAR 170 REVERE ST., REVERE (781) 289-4959 COMPANY PARTNERS: Glenn Bowie with company Vice President Sasa Samardzic, whom Bowie credits with helping build up annual sales at Hamilton Elevator Interiors, Inc. to $4.2 million since joining the company eight years ago. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) Chris 2024 working in Saugus? A: I was in Stoneham for about 10 years. Then the owner, John Hamilton, moved the company to 501 Main St. in the late 1980s. Then we outgrew that place. And about 20 years ago, we came here to Belair Street. I owe a lot to John Hamilton, because this was his company. And I pretty much built it into what it was until he sold me the place in 2016. Q: When you first arrived here on Belair Street, did you have flooding issues? A: No. It never really floodASKS | SEE PAGE 3
3 Publizr Home