20 Under 40 - Glass Magazine

Tom Howhannesian Vice President | Heinaman Contract Glazing | Lake Forest, Calif.
Education: 1990, Bachelor of Science, finance and management,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Career: 2001-present, vice president and general manager,
California operations, Heinaman Contract Glazing, Lake
Forest, Calif.; 1995-2001, owner, Property Care Services,
Irvine, Calif., 1990-95, operations manager, Sunset Property
Services, Irvine, Calif.
Personal: Age 39; hometown Coto de
Caza, Calif; married, wife Gay Lynne,
three children
Diversions: Ice hockey, golf,
skiing and racing cars
One-word description of
self: Intense
Favorite Web site: Home
page on excite where I get
my news, stock information
and weather
Lesson learned the hard
way: Too many to count. I
constantly am pushing the
envelope, creating many opportunities
for growth.
Favorite movie: Tie between “Monty
39
Python and the Holy Grail” and “Slap Shot”
Favorite musical artist: Led Zeppelin
Favorite book: “Cat's Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut
Favorite sports team: University of Southern California
Trojans.
2005 20 under 40 winners
T om
Howhannesian’s wife, preparing for maternity leave as Heinaman
Contract Glazing’s chief financial officer, needed a temporary replacement.
Having just sold his business, Tom Howhannesian accepted the
temporary arrangement. “Quite candidly, I was not looking for a permanent
position working for my wife’s family.”
However, the company turned out to be “the ideal work environment where
creativity and respect are valued,” and Howhannesian decided to stay on
as vice president and general manager of its California operations.
During the last two years, he’s taken over company leadership
from the slowly retiring President John Heinaman.
“Tom led the company from yearly sales of 10 million to
over 28 million in sales,” says Randy Diener, senior project
manager. “He’s been in charge for several years but
it’s in the last year that he’s truly brought this company
to its full potential and has earned all of our support as
a team.”
Howhannesian learned team-building skills while
starting a commercial property service company prior
to joining Heinaman Contract Glazing. “… When you
start a company from scratch, like the seed of a plant,
you need to nurture it and give it the proper amount of
attention and nutrients to ensure the development through
each stage of growth,” he says.
Unafraid of the hard work of managing, Howhannesian
believes in delegating authority, Diener says. “Tom has formed a core
leadership group … that sets and holds each other and all of our team accountable
to the company goals.”
Howhannesian enjoys problem-solving with his team and seeing team members
grow in knowledge and confidence. “I want to be remembered as a person
who enabled the team members to achieve greatness,” he says.
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