Rod Hershberger of MITER Brands Recognized With Lifetime Achievement Award

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Rod Hershberger of MITER Brands Recognized With Lifetime Achievement Award

2025-11-22 03:41 Last Updated At：13:23

SARASOTA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 21, 2025--

MITER Brands, a residential window and door manufacturer, announced today that Rod Hershberger, co-founder of PGT Custom Windows and Doors and current MITER Brands board member, was recently recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Argus Foundation.

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For the past 23 years, The Argus Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Awards has been an annual highlight for the organization, honoring business professionals in Sarasota who have made valuable contributions to the community throughout their lives.

On the evening of Thursday, November 13, the foundation bestowed the award to Hershberger during its annual Lifetime Achievement Awards. Held at The Ora in Sarasota, attendees enjoyed a welcome speech, an invocation, dinner, and an awards presentation.

Hershberger has played an integral role in shaping and enriching Sarasota over the years.

In 1980, he co-founded VinylTech, a vinyl porch enclosure manufacturing company, with Paul Hostetler. The duo began producing products in Venice, Florida, with just three employees. By 1987, Hershberger and Hostetler recognized the growing need within the Florida market for a reliable window supplier, and they established a new division, known as Progressive Glass Technology (PGT), to manufacture windows and doors.

After witnessing the devastation caused to homes by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Hershberger and the PGT team set out to manufacture a window product that would be as strong as a block wall, which could be used to protect homes from catastrophic damage during such storms. Under Hershberger’s leadership, PGT became the first company to offer a full suite of impact-resistant window and door products and is known today as the nation’s leading manufacturer of impact-resistant windows and doors.

After retiring from PGT in 2017, Hershberger served as the non-employee chairman of the board for PGT Innovations, parent company of several window and door brands, including PGT Custom Windows and Doors. Following MITER Brands’ acquisition of PGT in 2024, he was later appointed to MITER Brands’ board.

Outside of the company, Hershberger is a member and past chair of the Florida Building Commission and currently serves on several other boards in and around Venice, Florida, including the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, board member and past chair; Argus Foundation, board member and past chair; Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance, board member and past chair; and Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, trustee.

His passion for philanthropy has driven him to support numerous local causes, including Sarasota Christian School, Children’s First, Argus Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, FGIA, and Bayside Church.

“Rod’s recognition with the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Argus Foundation is not only a testament to his remarkable career, but the meaningful ways he has helped shape the community,” said Matt DeSoto, CEO of MITER Brands. “His leadership, generosity, and steadfast commitment to his values are an inspiration to so many of us at MITER Brands and beyond.”

About MITER Brands

Founded in 1947, MITER Brands is a residential window and door manufacturer that produces a portfolio of window and door brands for the new construction and replacement segments with an owner-operated, family-first approach. Through optimized manufacturing, valued relationships, and dedicated team members coast to coast, MITER Brands instills confidence and drives quality customer experiences. The name “MITER” is an acronym reflecting five of the company’s core strengths: Manufacturing, Innovation, Trust, Experiences, and Relationships.

For more information, visit miterbrands.com.

Attacks persist on Iran and across the Mideast as Trump threatens escalation

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors on Wednesday as airstrikes pounded Tehran and U.S. President Donald Trump again made contradictory statements about whether he was ready to wind down the war or escalate it.

Trump struck a belligerent tone Wednesday in a Truth Social post, demanding that Iran stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway vital to global oil supplies — or the U.S. would bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages.” A day earlier, Trump said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” ensuring the security of ships passing through Hormuz; that was an apparent backtrack from a previous threat to attack Iran's power grid if it didn't open the strait by April 6.

Trump, who is scheduled to give a televised address Wednesday evening, said Tuesday he could walk away from the war in two to three weeks once he felt confident Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon — even if Tehran does not agree to a ceasefire.

But his latest Truth Social post struck a harder line as more American troops move into the region for a possible ground offensive after weeks of airstrikes targeting Iran.

Trump also claimed Wednesday that “Iran's New Regime President” wanted a ceasefire. It wasn't clear to whom the U.S. president was referring since Iran still has the same president. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, called Trump's claim “false and baseless,” according to a report on Iranian state television.

Speaking earlier to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting. “You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.”

Since the war began on Feb. 28, Trump has offered shifting objectives and repeatedly has said it could be over soon while also threatening to widen the conflict. Thousands of additional U.S. troops are currently heading to the Middle East, and speculation abounds about the purpose of their deployment.

Just days ago, Trump threatened to attack Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub. And there has also been speculation about whether the U.S. could decide to send in military forces to secure Iran’s uranium stockpile — a complex and risky operation, fraught with radiation and chemical dangers, according to experts and former government officials.

Adding to the confusion is what role Israel - which has been bombing Iran alongside the U.S. — might play in any of these scenarios.

Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war as oil prices have skyrocketed, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other goods. The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was up more than 40% since the start of the war, trading at more than $103 a barrel on Wednesday.

The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan aimed at bringing about a ceasefire, including a demand for the strait to be reopened and for its nuclear program to be rolled back.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. And in a report last week by Iranian state TV's English-language broadcaster, an anonymous official was quoted as saying Iran had its own demands to end the fighting, including retaining sovereignty over the strait.

In the interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the U.S. could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”

He warned against any U.S. attempt to launch a ground offensive, saying “we are waiting for them.”

In a deal ostensibly to give diplomacy a chance, U.S. officials have given “clear assurances” that Araghchi and Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf won't be targeted, according to three officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

A cruise missile slammed into an oil tanker off Qatar’s coast Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said. The crew was evacuated and no casualties were reported. A Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai the day before, one of more than 20 ships attacked by Iran during the war.

In the United Arab Emirates, a person was killed when he was hit by debris from an intercepted drone in Fujairah, one of the country’s seven emirates.

In Kuwait, the state-run KUNA news agency said a drone hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a large fire.

Jordan’s military said it intercepted a ballistic missile and two drones fired from Iran in the last 24 hours. No casualties were reported. Two drones were also intercepted in Saudi Arabia.

In Israel, sirens sounded to warn of incoming missiles and AP reporters heard loud booms in Tel Aviv as the windows of buildings shook from the reverberations. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

An airstrike on Tehran appeared to have hit the former U.S. Embassy compound, which has been controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since American diplomats were held hostage there in 1979. Witnesses said buildings outside the massive compound had their windows blown out.

In Lebanon, at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut neighborhood.

Israel invaded southern Lebanon after the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the war. Many Lebanese fear another prolonged military occupation.

More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.

In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.