A Bit of Positivity...

I have been pretty salty lately regarding the economy, so I guess I need to set aside that negativity to note that the latest indexes did show some signs of life.   The Dodge Momentum Index had a nice May, up 13% from April.  However, we are still 6% behind last year and even the analyst is being smartly cautious:

“Construction starts rebounded across most sectors in May, bouncing back from a sluggish April,” stated Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network. “However, year-to-date figures remain below last year’s pace. Ongoing uncertainty around trade policy and the economic outlook is likely to keep construction activity in check in the months ahead.”

Meanwhile, the Architectural Billings Index remains underwater, but it showed a significantly better performance in May than in April.  The index rose from 43.2 to 47.2.  Ugly but not as ugly.  Inquiries and contracts also trended up.  So, while it’s still not rosy, it is “maybe” showing signs of hope?  I say “maybe” because the instability out there has not improved yet, and until it does, I think we’re still on the rocky road. 

Elsewhere…quick hits with the Summer Interview series #3 below.

-- Another old friend and co-worker of mine announced his retirement this past week.  The renowned mirror maestro Jim Ventre of Gardner Glass Products/Dreamwalls is calling it a career.  Jim is a class act and has been a good friend for many years.  One of the great parts about Jim that I will miss is seeing him at an industry event and always being greeted with a big, warm smile.  Jim always stayed on the upbeat, no matter the situation.  We, as an industry, will miss you, my friend.  Enjoy that next phase of life!

-- Congrats to Wade Arnold of USBP/Quikserv, who was named Glass Professional of the Year by the Houston Area Glass Association.  A much-deserved honor.  Wade truly commits a tremendous amount of time and effort to the benefit of our space, and it’s great to see him recognized for it!

-- If you read my Q&A with Mike Willard a few weeks ago, it was noted that Dapper Dan Reinhart would be the new CEO at Salem Fabrication Technologies.  That news officially broke this week.  Congrats Dan!  I know he will do a super job as his care for the good of our industry is significant, and his talents to get things done are very strong. 

-- The NGA has a new poll out that could use your attention.  It is related to the use of PCR and EPDs.  Whether you know them or not, you can still take part!  Click HERE for a one-question survey.  Thank you!

-- Big holidays this week… Canada Day and the 4th of July.  Please, folks, go enjoy and take it easy!  And if you’re doing the fireworks thing, please be safe and also think of the dogs and neighbors when you shoot them off.   Have fun!

-- Last this week…. The Summer Interview series rolls on with Josh Burg of Glass Enterprises.  Josh was on my 3rd podcast, and now he’s the 3rd interview here- so that’s cool. Josh is incredibly talented and one of the best operators in the industry.  I’ve always been impressed with him and his approach; he gives it to you straight, fair, and always with class.  Additionally, I wanted to catch up because he has made some huge moves since we last spoke.

Max: Thank you for doing this, Josh. The last time we spoke in a setting like this was in March 2021. You were my third podcast. I've done 60+ since! A lot has changed. Talk to me about these last four years. You've been a very, very busy guy.

Josh: Max. It's always great to talk to you. Thank you again for inviting me. I appreciate the hospitality. Yes, the last four years have been a little crazy. We emerged from Covid and trucked along and had had some positive things happen after. Once we got through that whole mess and we spoke, I would say the biggest highlight was the acquisition of our Connecticut plant. It just increased our capacity, but more so increased our capabilities into laminating, heat soaking, digital print, jumbo glass. That was just last year. So it was kind of a buildup from COVID to get to that point.

And it's been a journey to say the least. It's always another challenge while still trying to maintain what you do well. And then we get into the back end of 2023, 2024, where our industry really saw a decline in business and the market really shrunk, creates another challenging environment. So that's the challenge of last year and it's bleeding over into 25. I don't think anybody's really setting the world on fire, but with diligence and attention to detail, I think you have to just batten down the hatches and move forward. But to move forward, you have to understand your cost structure and pricing models.  I do not know where our industry went sideways, but, at the fabricator level, all I have seen is decreased pricing without regard to the impact of increased costs, overhead, and raw materials.  Our industry literally cannibalizes itself and I am not sure to what end. I truly believe, as fabricators, we have to make the most complex building material, that is all custom, has to be delivered just in-time, and with a static product that is not modifiable after fabrication.  How does our industry not see the proper value?  I would say, that is the largest challenge facing our industry, our inability to communicate and hold value in our products. 

Max: Back to Connecticut. That was a very bold move. I assume everything is rolling OK there?

Josh: Connecticut's rolling wonderfully. We have a great team up there, a new plant manager started about two months ago who's really transformed that place. It took a good six to eight months to get that thing square from where it was. When we got it, it kind of illustrated non glass people getting into the glass industry, not really having a firm grasp of what we do or how we do it or what's required from our customers. So that retooling took some time and the work that Connecticut does has longer cycles, you’re bidding today and hopefully being awarded and then glass gets released about nine months+ later. But at this point, Connecticut is clipping along really well. I've never seen higher quality equipment at a plant in terms of production monitoring, digital scanners, but it's fun, Connecticut's fun.   

Max: I have a curiosity question for you because you do so much. Glass Enterprises does the whole range of our industry, but two of the areas that I'm really interested in is what is the hotter segment right now? Bird friendly glass or school security glass? 

Josh: For us, it's definitely bird friendly. Bird friendly right now is kind of like the wild wild west. There's a good portion of my weeks or days that are occupied on education, on bird friendly to Architects & Glaziers. There are just so many options and the aesthetic appeal of each one is so different, and then there's a cost factor as well for each different product. So you have to balance all those variables when trying to help design a project with our customers, what their expectations are when it gets on the job, whether it's through sampling or I really recommend full mockups to see what bird friendly you selected and what it's going to look like on a building. But I would say definitely bird friendly, especially in our area with New York City having their building codes DC close by Boston, starting to incorporate it and then with all the colleges and universities. 

Max: How have the supply chain challenges with the various things going on in the universe affected you or has it not affected you at all? Any issues out there? 

Josh: We haven't seen any issues with supply chains. I mean, tariffs are having a slight impact. We've gotten a couple letters with some tariff surcharges that have come across, but for our 40-year history, we've always solely purchased from our domestic manufacturers and supply chains. So even during COVID, that was a huge win for us when the container prices went through the roof and shipping. We support the people in our backyard the way we hope our customers support us and reinvest in our local or regional economies. So supply chain in terms of access to material has been great. The volatility in pricing, which we're going through right now with this new price increase, that's a challenge. And it's more of a challenge on how different companies and different segments read the market, for example. Do I think that there's been an over commoditization of products in our space for just in time custom manufacturing, which would carry a lot of value? I think there has been, and I think the increase in costs is challenging when you have a ceiling on the market of what you can sell for, and that's dictated by supply and demand. It's economics 101, there's a lot of supply out there, and as I said, the demand just hasn't been what it needs to be to support that. So I would say the biggest challenge in supply chain is managing your costs versus revenue price. 

Max: Before I let you go, the biggest question, most important question I have to ask you is will the Eagles repeat this year? 

Josh: That's a loaded question. I think it's hard to repeat. I think so many things have to break their way. You have some of these generational teams across all sports, but you have to stay injury free. Your schedule's another variable in that. For the Eagles, I think they have a challenging schedule this year when you finish first in the division. So I'm going to say yes or else all of my local Philadelphia fans will want to crush me. But we're going to go with, yes, the Eagles are going to repeat. I'm going to go to Vegas, put five bucks on it, and there you go. We'll see what happens. 

LINKS of the WEEK

-- I find this somewhat interesting.  Are there more plastic particles in glass bottles than in plastic ones? https://phys.org/news/2025-06-glass-bottles-microplastics-plastic.html

-- Autofocus glasses on the way?  No more bifocals or trifocals.  Not sure how I feel.  Then again, I can’t see for crud anyway. (Eye doctor makes me crazy- “What is better A or B” and I’m like “dang it Doc they all look the same!!”) https://www.techradar.com/health-fitness/these-autofocus-glasses-could-soon-make-bifocals-obsolete-by-tracking-your-eyes-in-real-time

-- The end of an era- the “Blue Screen of Death” is going away https://www.theverge.com/news/692648/microsoft-bsod-black-screen-of-death-color-change-official

BONUS

Tiny homes available from Amazon and with solar panels too.  Some of these are pretty nice. https://people.com/generic-prefabricated-container-tiny-home-june-2025-11757735

 PROJECT of the WEEK

Cool one for the spotlight this week.  Posted by Chase Brown, Owner of East Coast Architectural Glass.  He noted that this project (Palm Bay City Hall) was Kawneer 1630IR Level E Curtainwall, 4 degree inverted. Since I am more of a glass guy, I have no idea what that means.  LOL.  I kid, I kid.  Great work!!! Aside from Kawneer, the other industry player mentioned was Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope.  Kudos to all involved in this beauty!

Surprising Stat

((Note- I am posting on LinkedIn as well- Follow me there to get these each Sunday))

I was pretty surprised this week when I came across this line in a story from The Wall Street Journal. “There were almost 500,000 more sellers than buyers in the U.S. housing market in April, according to Redfin.” Everything I see and hear is that places go up for sale, and they are snapped up immediately and usually for over asking.  (My niece sold her house in one day and for much more than the listed price) So seeing this didn’t compute with me. The story noted that interest rates are keeping people away, and this may not be the case where I live, as the story also pointed out that some markets in the Northeast and Midwest still favor sellers.  The takeaway is that it is interesting where perspective and reality meet.  Like seeing the stock market go crazy and thinking the economy (especially in our space) is going well.  Anyway, food for thought for this week- the whole article, if you are interested, is HERE.

Elsewhere… again quick hits with the Q&A at the bottom.

--  Mark your calendar for the latest NAGMA webinar, coming your way this week. It features Eric Zieger from Clear Motion Glass talking about Smart Glass Tech.  I am not super familiar with Eric and his group, so I’ll be checking it out.  It is free and happens on Wednesday, June 25th at 2PM EST.  To register, click HERE.

-- Good people end up at good companies.  The latest? Steven Acker has joined up at Harmon as Preconstruction Service Executive at Harmon Inc., located in the New York City office.  Great for both sides!! Congrats to all.

-- And a tough one for our space- the great Casey Anderson announced she was leaving ICD.  While I'm not sure where Casey goes next, I can say she made a significant impact in our industry, and it was a pleasure and honor to be in her orbit.  Best of luck, my friend, and hopefully you’ll stay in touch!

-- Did any of you follow the Karen Read trial/re-trial in Massachusetts?  It just concluded this past week and was one of the wildest, over-the-top sorts of adventures ever.  It was a case where you alternated between guilt and innocence, almost constantly.  It also had a community that was passionately divided too.  If you are unaware, start with watching a great doc on it, “A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read” on HBO Max, and go from there.  And if you're aware and have thoughts, please share - I'm always open to other insights!

-- Last this week… the summer Q&A series continues.  The feedback from last week was great, and I have now lined up a few weeks of interviews.  This will help pass the summer by with good content.  This time out… I check back in with recent podcast guest Ty Clem of Window Outfitters.  The current state of immigration in the US is something Ty is extremely passionate about. It hits close to home for him.  You may not agree with his opinion or approach, but he’s absolutely sincere and hopes for a more realistic plan out there.

Max: You are very deep into what’s happening on the immigration issue both personally and professionally- I know this is something that is huge in many ways. 

Ty: On the personal side, my grandma and grandpa were born in Mexico. My great-grandparents are from full blood Indians, and my great-grandmother was from Portugal. I know other people that work in the industry that have immigrant parents that came over here and have done all right. So being in the glass industry, the last 20 years, mostly 90% of the guys I've worked around are the Latino community. A lot of these guys have been here a long time. They work hard. They do it right. They're good people. I hang out with 'em. I go to dinner with 'em, my kids hang out with their kids. A bunch of these guys have worked for me for years and they have their work visas. The problem now is that they're telling 'em they're not going to renew the visas.   And I don't understand why. I get it, let's get the criminals and the drug dealers and the gang bangers and all those people out, but with this happening you are removing a great percentage of your workforce in construction. We're going to be in big trouble here.

Max: And on the subject of workforce in construction, we’re already seeing it.  This article from Construction Dive discusses the impact, and you have your own perspective. https://www.constructiondive.com/news/ice-raids-jobsites-impact-construction-workers/749786/

Ty: You’ve got people saying let’s get rid of all the immigrant workers, but I say who will do these jobs? Some say Americans will, but immigrants have always done these jobs. I don’t see kids out of high school lined up to go into concrete or Sheetrock. I don’t hear parents saying son or daughter you should look at being a glazier after you graduate for a great career or go into the highway department. I’m not saying Americans won’t do these jobs but now it’s like I’m almost wanting to say white people won’t do these jobs and mean Americans. That’s the big problem with how the government is approaching this issue with legal immigration. They are hunting people down based off the color of their skin. How else do you drive onto a job site or pull into a factory and say who’s American or not! That’s crazy. Yea I voted for a secure border but I also voted for less government control. 

Max: For those that aren’t in it day-to-day, like you, they don’t have any idea of the journey here.

Ty: Everyone says we need new legislation and our immigration laws are broken but you don’t hear any more than that. First, I don’t blame people for coming here to give their families the best opportunity. Did they break a law and cross our border, yes, but I would have done the same thing for my family if I had to. The past administration said doors open to the land of the free and opportunity, so like any smart person living in tyranny or under cartel rule or living in a country with terrible living conditions they did what I would think every dad and mom would do for their family. They risked it all to get here and lots of them died on the journey. “Americans “ say well they should have done it right! Do they even know what that means? Probably not. It’s actually a long process (5-1/2 years) and hard to accomplish but we all think yea I woulda done it right and don’t get me wrong lots of immigrants do, very commendable.  The whole world wants to come here so the process has probably gotten a lot harder and longer than we realize. Point is we don’t even want to go to the DMV, we don’t want to stand in line at Walmart , we get impatient waiting for our meal to come out but we think that we’d all go through the immigration process step by step like we’re supposed to . I highly doubt that. We can’t even get our kids off their phones to eat dinner. Well, I can at least say not my kids. They aren’t being raised like that. 

Max: Keep at it - your passion here is truly appreciated.

Ty: We all bleed and sweat together. We all (me and my crew) went to dinner last night. I'm going to stand by them. People may want to hate me for that. That's fine. But we're going to do the right thing.

Thank you, Ty, for fighting the good fight here.  One that surely will have an impact. Next week, catching up with a strong fabricator who’s made some big moves since we last talked.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- I’m a sucker for Dogs that do the job of a batboy in a baseball game. https://apnews.com/article/nationals-bat-dog-bruce-35e1dfb0993cdecbda8d6258021c7d7d

-- Great work from these guys at the Pittsburgh Airport- finding a lost diamond.  Tremendous. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2025/06/18/Pittsburgh-International-Airport-diamond-ring/5541750267020/

-- Dressing up as a bear to commit insurance fraud. Really?!?https://www.npr.org/2024/11/14/nx-s1-5191741/bear-costume-insurance-fraud

PROJECT of the WEEK

My guy, Dan Plotnick of Vitro, is a superstar, and I was thrilled when he submitted this amazing project because it hits a ton of things I like. Among them, I love the use of VIG, and, of course, I am a huge fan of Mike and Joyce Cully and the team at United Plate Glass. (Goal for me is to get Mike and Joyce on my podcast.) Plus, it is a stunner.  The job is the Pittsburgh Glass Center Expansion, and kudos to all involved.  Aside from the Vacumax (still love that name) VIG, there’s Solarban® 72 on Starphire as well.  Tremendous design from Indovina Associates and was installed by Southwest Aluminum & Glass Co., and as mentioned above, fabrication by United Plate Glass (UPG) in Butler, PA.  CONGRATS to all and thanks again, Dan for dropping this one in my lap.  

This and That

I hate being the one to deliver bad news, but right now, it is what it is… and you can’t just bury your head in the sand and hope it goes away.  This week, the latest Construction Stress Index was released, and it was ugly. Private work is getting abandoned at record levels, and the index is now 22.8% above the baseline set in 2021.  To read in more detail- go HERE.  Then, get back to the basics to continue riding it all out.  Note I remain confident that once we get some stability things will start to break free… but the question of when that happens is a big one.

Elsewhere… some quick hits as I am trying something new at the end of this section

-- The NeoCon show in Chicago got very positive reviews. Nice to see, especially since the interior space has had its challenges. 

-- Congrats to my friend Nathan Seaman on his new gig at Form Metal Systems.  Nathan is a remarkable talent and person, and a big key in the formation of the California Glass Association.  I appreciate his drive and desire to work for the best of our industry.

-- Got word that John Aiello Sr. will be retiring at the end of this month. 60 years in our industry, and took part in some iconic jobs in the Pittsburgh area and beyond.  His contributions to our space were immense.  Congratulations, John, on your retirement. Go enjoy some serious fishing!

-- I know most of you reading are commercial players, but I do have a batch of residential folks, so this is for you. Window + Door Magazine is running a poll about the potential effects of eliminating Energy Star.  Would you mind going to this link and casting your vote?  Thank you

So, last this week… since summer is light on news, I am going to bring back some quick Q&As to the blog.  I had done this in the summers- way back before the podcast- so here we go again.  This time, a salute to Mike Willard, CEO/Owner of Salem Fabrication Technologies, as this past week, after 40 years, he’s hanging ‘em up.  A very good man with a strong career, one that started at Pilkington and lasted 13 years before going to Salem. I caught up with him this week to talk about the past, the industry, and what he’s going to do next.

Max: What are you most proud of in your career?

Mike Willard: I came to Salem in June 15th, 1999. But I would say what I'm most proud of is the ESOP that we have here at Salem, and it's just a great wealth building tool for our employee owners, and it's been very satisfying for me to see the account balances grow for these employees. And of course, with an ESOP, they're not putting any of their own money into it, much like a 401k. So, it's all company generated, and we've had employees retire and they've got additional wealth that they didn't count on along with their 401k and personal investments and social security. So yeah, I'm just very proud of that. And Salem is a very well-known company within the ESOP world. We go to conferences and people know us, they know who we are, and they know myself and our CFO, Gail Marett, and it's just been very satisfying, 

Max: What will you miss the most about our wonderful Industry?

Mike: Oh, clearly people like you. I mean, just all the people. We got great customers, great suppliers. I'm going to miss that a lot. I'll miss not going to GlassBuild later this fall. Miss going to Dusseldorf every other year. So, I've enjoyed the travel, enjoyed meeting with our vendors as time progressed. I've been in sales all my life. Customers were always number one, but as I matured through my career, suppliers were number one. Just the value of having great suppliers and delivering great products to us was very important to me. So, all supplier development was important to me. So yes, I'll miss all that 

Max: Salem is in great hands, Dan Reinhart and the other owners there, rowing in the right direction. It's got to make you feel good as you retire that you've left the company in really good shape. 

Mike: As you know, Terry (Hessom) and Mike (Synon) retired last December. And selfishly, I could have retired at the same time, and I would get my first ESOP payout probably this month, actually. But I didn't think the optics on that were going to be very good. People will make up their own stories about the whole executive team leaving at the same time. So decided to stay on until now. And so I just said, well, I joined the company June 15th, 99. I'll depart the company on June 15th, 2025. But yes, we have left the company in good hands. I worked on succession plans for about three years, and so vetted out people to replace Mike and Terry. I think we have some great replacements to fill their roles. And yes, Dan's going to be a great leader. He's been with us for 14 years, and he'll do a fine job. 

Max: What's next for you? You mentioned Terry and Mike, and I know Terry went onto a boat and started fishing. 

Mike: My wife was a middle school principal, and so as I traveled throughout the world, she couldn't leave school. So yes, I'm going to take her on a lot of places that I've been to and experienced. We'll be doing a lot of traveling. We're going to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary on the 29th this month. We're going to Key West later this month. And then she's got four sisters and we’re going to a family reunion up at Cape Cod. That's August and then September, we have a southern Caribbean cruise. And I'm going to start planning a trip to Italy probably September, October. So probably go over there for a couple weeks and just hang out. 

Max: Any final words of advice for the industry you're leaving behind? Any words of wisdom from you? 

Mike: Gosh, I would love to see more innovation. I think the Europeans are far ahead of us as far as innovation. I think the industry needs to get into more automation, which we're starting to slowly see.  I guess that would be the biggest. But it's great industry. I've been doing it for 40 years and have really, really enjoyed my experience. 

Thank you, Mike, for all that you have done. Enjoy the next phase of your life!

LINKS of the WEEK

A runaway pet Zebra named Ed… was on the loose this week.  A pet zebra….

https://apnews.com/article/runaway-pet-zebra-captured-tennessee-54669b2fc2c1dffb87a09f4081d6c135

Incredibly cool- middle schoolers designing a prosthetic for a paralyzed labradoodle.

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2025/06/12/Valley-Catholic-Middle-School-prosthetics-dog/9191749748577/

Guess we’ll make this an all-animal edition of the links…. This one... a bear casually walking the streets in Connecticut. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/black-bear-spotted-casually-roaming-155510284.html

PROJECT of the WEEK

I’m a fan of Daniel Capen on Noble Custom Glass & Mirror, and I usually see him heavy on the shower door side.  But this recent commercial one caught my eye and I decided it deserved this week’s spotlight.   Nice work on this structure, and it was good to see Daniel recognize Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope and Skyreach Equipment for their collaboration on it all.  Kudos to Daniel and the great team at Noble on a job well done!!