On the heels of last weeks note about the down ABI, an
opposite and very positive trend emerged this week. For the month of April, the seasonally
adjusted annual rate of construction spending topped the $1 trillion mark for
the first time since November 2008. Any
time you see a stat that refers to the “first time” since pre great recession,
it is surely something to note. Combine
this with a very positive trend on the put-in-place investment numbers and
right now things are surely moving in the right direction.
Elsewhere…
-- This is the last month for one of the greatest and nicest
people in our industry. At the end of
June, Jan Rogan of PPG is retiring and that is a huge loss. Anyone who has ever had the honor of dealing
with Jan will miss her. I’ve been lucky
enough to know Jan for most of my professional glass life and will always be
grateful for her help and assistance along the way, not to mention always
seeing her smiling face at the various trade shows I would run into her
at. We will miss you Jan… enjoy
retirement, you deserve it!!
-- Props to the folks at IGMA on their latest bulletin on
Vacuum Insulating Glass. There’s no
question that VIG is something that intrigues many. The potential has been staring people in the
face a long time but getting it into a mass production scenario has always
seemed to be the bugaboo. IGMA putting
out this doc will surely help educate the masses about this product line and
give decision makers the proper insight on where and why this technology may
work.
-- I’m a month behind with my normal “best ad of the month in
Glass Magazine” thoughts- and actually for this month I am skipping the ad, and
giving kudos to the article on the very last page. The folks at Hale Glass have their own
internal training program and the article there breaks down what and why they
do what they do. It’s an excellent read
and congrats to Brian Hale and everyone at Hale Glass for making themselves and
in effect the industry better!
-- Anyone have an Apple Watch?
Curious if you like/use it. Why
do I have a feeling former glass industry star Scott Surma will be the one to
tell me he has one…
-- Another question while I am at it… does anyone really
believe that driverless cars will make it in our world? I know several major players are
experimenting with this, but I just can’t see it working at any sort of level
in our society. Too many moving parts
and pieces but the big thing is liability.
Especially in the US. The
liability issue curbs tons of enthusiastic and entrepreneurial approaches on a
daily basis; this one would get trampled by it.
-- Last this week, a GREAT link that anyone in the glass
industry will enjoy. Hollywood making
the crash through a window look “safe and easy”- All of us who around glass
surely know how it really is! The link lists 4 other things that Hollywood
makes different than reality as well.
Good stuff.
LINKS of the WEEK
-- Tremendous inside story on Disney’s billion dollar bet on
Magic Bands.
-- Science teacher jams cell signal with good intentions and
gets interesting results.
VIDEO of the WEEK
We are just a few days from the premiere of the movie Jurassic
World… and I have been informed by my son, that we will be seeing the night it
comes out… so to get ready I had to check out the trailer- looks like it will
be a good, crazy, campy movie.
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