Rest in Peace Dave Helterbran

The term “Class Act” is probably now overused.  But today I am going to use it as a tribute to a man who truly deserves that moniker.  After a heroic run of battles against illness and cancer, long time industry manufacturers rep Dave Helterbran passed away late last Tuesday night.  Now Dave was a TRUE class act.   Everything he did led you to that conclusion.  His overall attitude and approach always put you in a better place after a talk or visit with Dave.  He always met me with a smile and with a positive outlook on everything.  And I know I was not the only one that felt that way.  Dave cared tremendously about his product lines.  Being a manufacturers rep is not an easy business (I know there’s folks who think it is- sorry you’re wrong) and Dave always handled the adventures there well.  You could say he always handled that with class…  He was fortunate to work with some excellent people and companies that appreciated him until the end, like Mike Scanlon and the folks at Trelleborg.  Dave leaves behind people who loved him, loved working with and for him, and he also leaves behind a legacy with his daughter Lindsay and Son in Law Dustin as they continue their rep firm Texas Glazing Solutions.  Lindsay and Dustin are a lot like Dave.  Lindsay was blessed with Dave’s smile and overall genes and Dustin picked up on the Dave’s attitude and acumen pretty fast.  They will do well in this business because Dave prepared them right.  In the end, we lost yet another great person in our industry and world, and that is surely sad.  My thoughts, and condolences go out to the entire Helterbran family, his friends and associates on the loss of this classy gentleman.

Elsewhere…

--  Some good news… my friend Mike Gainey picked up a new great gig recently joining the team at Ensinger.  I have known Mike a long time, he’s one of the few people who actually dealt with me in every past life I had in this industry… and actually still likes me.  (or at least I think so..) Anyway he’ll do great in this new slot and I am thrilled for him.

--  Did you see Google changed its look and logo some?  I do not like it.  Not sure why a company so established would go that direction.

--  So I saw a piece this week on 5 emerging building types to master and a few jumped out at me for importance to us.   One was “Bioclimatic” where the structure is built to have a more intense connection with the climate zone of its location.  Another was Net Zero Energy and I have been on that bandwagon for a while so it’s good to see that continuing to pick up steam.  The last and possibly most interesting is “Resilient” buildings.  These are structures built to maintain functionality or bounce back quickly in the face of extreme weather.  Some examples ranged from the simple like elevating buildings to avoid flood waters, using operable windows instead of fixed because of humidity to more intense like flooring that can flood but dry out and resume service without issue.  In any case I share this because our industry has a stake in all of these and needs to keep innovating and communicating what we do so we are involved in the process.

--  Last this week courtesy of the always reliable twitter feed of Conners Sales Group.  It’s a fascinating battle taking place with Turner Construction and the city of Santa Clara, CA about a hospital and priorities.  The story can be found here and I have a feeling we’re not through hearing about it yet.

LINKS of the WEEK

--  Wow not a healthy family dynamic here…

--  GREAT APP for virtually walking you home a night.  We live in a scary world, nice to see ways to combat that

--  Maybe I am old but I don’t find this funny or cute or anything.  Then again if it keeps this DWI offender off the real roads… that’s great.

VIDEO of the WEEK

As many of you know I have soured on the NFL because I think the commissioner is horrendous and league management inept and greedy beyond absolute belief.  And that’s before I get to the well being of the players.  Well with this new movie coming out, I could possibly be joined by some converts.  Looks wild.