As Sno Gem Inc. celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2014, it is an opportunity to reflect on its journey from start-up to the forefront of the snow retention industry. Like many businesses, Sno Gem was born out of necessity. The Smeja family had founded Metalmaster Sheet Metal Inc. in 1977, which was growing into one of the largest commercial sheet metal and roofing businesses in the industry. They came to realize there were few snow guard manufacturers to meet the increasing demand for snow retention products, and for integration into the roofs they were consistently installing. "The roofing business was growing and they were doing a large portion of the work in the Chicagoland area," says James T. Carpenter, Vice President of Operations at Sno Gem.
