Hope everyone had a great holiday season and you are ready
to roll into a very exciting year ahead!
But before we look forward into 2017, it’s time to look back at 2016 and
see how everything shook out with regards to my predictions at the front of the
year. I made 5 predictions and I don’t
believe I was far off…
#1 - Go Big or Go Home. – The fact
that I was talking about the trend of going bigger and that it was not ending
anytime soon. Well with Guardian and
Vitro putting in jumbo coaters (and Viracon which announced last year) and more
oversize coming from all parts of the world, I’d say this was dead on.
#2- Security
Focused- I talked about the need for security glazing. It did not take off like I thought it would
but by no means do I think this area was a dud.
I’d give myself ½ credit here and quite frankly I think I may put this
on the 2017 list too.
#3- Greenfielding
is back and new players emerge. The new players emerging were
surely a trend in 2016, but only a few greenfields and I was shocked that very
few established fabricators did it. Plus
none of the bigger folks from overseas jumped in yet with facilities in North
America. They may still do it by
acquisition or wait until the American dollar value changes. This is a failed call by me at this point.
#4- Codes and Certifications. No major issues on the code side thanks to a
mellow year but also tremendous work by those who represent us at that
level. (Visit my MVP articles to see
those names.) However the certification
side did get its feet down, and the work and advancement from groups like the
NACC cannot be denied.
#5- More focus on birds- This was on the
list in 2015 as well and the focus without a doubt continued to grow. While there are still too many new buildings
being built without bird protection in mind, many more are. With more products than ever available, I
believe this is an area of concern that will continue to be addressed and the
usage of the right design and products utilized.
So overall not that bad- surely better than my sports
predictions (sorry Panther and Bengal fans!)
Next week I will have my predictions for 2017…
Elsewhere….
-- The new year has begun and somewhat shockingly to me a few
of the deals that I was told that will be done by year-end, still are not
complete. So I guess we’ll see if the 1st
quarter breaks anything loose on that front.
-- The Sota/Apogee deal that closed right after my last blog of
2016 is a good one for both sides and surely is a great addition to the already
powerful Apogee group of companies.
-- The November Architectural Billings Index hit positive
levels again with 50.6. That is
basically unchanged from the previous month.
The interesting news was new project inquiries were up sharply to 59.5. That’s an area to watch, as with a new
presidential administration this would be the first area to see any change-
positive or negative.
-- Congrats to good friend and excellent rep Margaret Brune-
she continues to land excellent clients, most recently curtain wall
manufacturer FreMarq Innovations. Good
match of talent there and good to see!
-- Last this week- the coolest buildings of 2016 according tothe folks at Construct Connect. 4 of the
5 are on North American soil- which I am not sure has happened a lot in recent
years. Take a look and if you had
anything to do with these amazing structures drop me a line! Would love to give you proper credit for
being involved in something so “cool.”
Next week- predictions for 2017, Glass Magazine issue
review, a great video and more!
LINKS of the WEEK
This cracks me up… plane load of people drinks the trip dry!
My alma mater is mentioned in this article on “Jerry
Maguire” and being a sports agent.
Interesting piece- and being an agent of any kind- not an easy gig.
I’m not a big fan of BuzzFeed but this list of things we
were doing in the 90’s vs now is classic.
VIDEO of the WEEK
Well here it is… the end of 2016… so the final video of the
year? Funniest live TV bloopers of the
year. Enjoy…
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