R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Delta Door and Dock co-owner and service technician Cory McNamara oils a hinge on a commercial garage door.

EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.

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ESCANABA — Delta Door and Dock, owned by Cory and Katrina McNamara, provides installation and maintenance of garage doors and loading docks for residential and commercial customers within about a two-hour radius of their Escanaba headquarters, located at 2120 N. Lincoln Road behind Tilbert’s.

Delta Door Company, as the business was then called, was founded in the late 1970s. For over 45 years, under Albrecht ownership, they grew a clientele base and a positive reputation as a provider of quality products and good service.

In 2017, Cory McNamara moved to Delta County from Milwaukee, where he had worked for a few years on both garage doors and loading docks. For clarity, loading docks are bays with large doors of a similar type to those seen on garages, but raised so that semi-trailers can back right up to them; dock lips, levelers that bridge gaps, and bumpers also optimize their function.

Delta Door Company just did garage doors when Cory started working for them shortly after moving to the U.P.

In 2022, the McNamaras bought Delta Door from Mike Albrecht, Jr. They changed the name to “Delta Door and Dock” and immediately added loading dock capabilities — installation and service — to their offerings.

“Before that, (places) like Coca-Cola and Elmer’s would have to get people from Green Bay or MIlwaukee to come and work on their loading docks,” said Katrina. “We can provide that, and we have about a two-hour radius that we travel.”

While a handful of nearby businesses have begun to take advantage of the know-how and new service that Delta Door and Dock began implementing two years ago, the local business is hoping that more people realize that they now work on loading docks and are seeking to pick up more customers in that vein.

“I know there’s a lot more places … that are being serviced somehow — or maybe they’re not being serviced, and they need to be, because that’s a big thing,” Katrina said.

Regular service includes oiling, greasing, checking that everything is in properly working order, and replacing parts when necessary.

In addition to Cory, two other service technicians, Brayden and Forrest, perform installations, replacements and repairs for clients of Delta Door and Dock.

As preventative maintenance is key in order to keep emergency faults from happening at inopportune times — cables snapping when you need to leave, doors to your heated garage getting stuck open on the coldest day of winter — Delta Door and Dock recommends service one a year for most residences and businesses. Busier operations like the road commission get serviced twice a year.

Luce County Road Commission in the Newberry area is one of Delta Door and Dock’s farthest customers. In the opposite direction, the Escanaba business recently completed the installation of 22 full-vision glass garage doors for Oconto Unified School District in Oconto, Wis.

Delta Door and Dock exclusively deals products from Haas Door, a company from Ohio that Katrina said is wonderful to work with. They offer tons of options for both commercial and residential buildings.

Doors come in different thicknesses that offer varying levels of insulation. Panels come in different styles — raised, recessed, ribbed, sculptured — and different colors and textures. New this year is “plank,” which looks like boards with natural woodgrain. Vastly different appearances can be achieved with assorted combinations. Carriage house-style trim evokes a barn door look, and decorative hardware like hinges and handles may be added to enhance that or other styles. Windows, which come in a number of shapes and styles, can be arranged asymmetrically, along the top, or in other patterns. Panes can be made of glass or polycarbonate, frosted or clear, gray or bronze, pebbled or reflective.

Delta Door and Dock provides and programs openers and remotes.

Another service offered by Delta Door and Dock is custom painting. So while the Haas catalog may say their models come in just neutral tones, Katrina, who previously worked at Sherwin-Williams for 20 years, offers custom garage door painting in whatever hue a customer may want.

Customer service features heavily into the values of the business run by the McNamaras, as it did previously at Delta Door Company. Katrina says they always try to find the best solution for a customer’s needs, never try to up-sell unnecessarily, and prioritize emergencies if and when they arise.

“I was big into customer service with Sherwin-Williams and, like, getting to know the people that I’m dealing with,” Katrina said. “I just feel that’s a big thing that I want to stress in this company with this new endeavor.”

Delta Door and Dock’s office on North Lincoln Road is open on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The phone number is 906-428-1294, and the website is deltadooranddock.com.