October 17, 1944, Raynor Manufacturing Company was born in a small factory in Quincy, Illinois, founded by its two owners, Bill Norberg and Ray Neisewander. Norberg’s specialty was steel fabrication, while Neisewander’s expertise was woodworking. In 1946, the company moved to its present location in Dixon, Illinois. By the end of the decade, the company had more than 150 employees and had doubled the size of its original Dixon building.
1950 – Raynor continued its emphasis on quality and innovation. Ray Neisewander, now the company’s sole owner, pushed for close, responsive relationships with the growing list of Raynor dealers around the country and started the factory and dealer network, along with annual sales conferences in 1951. The field sales staff also grew and stepped up efforts to keep in contact with Raynor dealers who, by 1954, could be found in 35 states.
1980 – Raynor raised the bar with several firsts that forever changed the garage door industry. In 1980, the success of the Decade steel residential garage door had competitors scrambling to produce a look-alike door. Our 3” thick TriCore created a whole new breed of commercial insulated doors. In 1982, Raynor announced the industry’s first 10-year residential door section warranty. The famous “For As Long As You Own Your Home” warranty was introduced in 1988. Raynor’s workforce in Dixon almost doubled as three manufacturing plants were built and the product line expanded to include residential openers and rolling steel doors.
2013 – During the technology craze of the 2000s, in March 2013, Raynor Garage Doors launched the Raynor iPad app. In July 2013, the Raynor Android app was developed, providing Android users all the same capabilities. The app was designed to put all of Raynor’s marketing materials at our dealers’ fingertips. Dealers are able to view product literature, videos, access WebConnect, visualize the look of doors with Design-a-Door, and view product slideshows – all with the touch of a button.
2020 – Since 1944, Raynor Garage Doors has been an industry leader as a family-owned garage door manufacturer. Today we have more than 800 distributors in the United States, 190 in Canada, and 60 distributors in 50 countries on 5 continents. With 75 years of design, engineering and production expertise, no other garage door manufacturer can match our consistent product performance. Not bad for 75 years!