Props to Jerry and Jeff

Next week my industry MVP will be announced… but this week I want to recognize two incredible men that have recently transitioned away from the day to day glass and glazing industry- Jerry and Jeff Razwick, formerly of Technical Glass Products- TGP.  When I had heard that Jerry and Jeff were no longer with TGP, it was struck me hard- these guys were forces in their sector of our world and its going to be seriously different without them out there on a day to day basis.  First off, for me growing up in the industry, Jerry Razwick was this incredible influential figure- I would see his name in all of the news stories and he was always on the forefront of technology and innovation in the fire rated space.  As I grew in the industry I finally got to meet Jerry and I was a wreck at first because he is this legend… but I didn’t need to worry, as he was as friendly as he could be to me.   I also along the way got to know his son Jeff, who in his own right became a brilliant businessman, leader and class act.  Getting to know these guys and then so many of the folks that worked with them, it was easy to see why they were having such amazing success.  In addition, and this is a big thing for me, they served and supported our industry extremely well.  They could’ve pulled their company support when they had explosive growth but they didn’t and as an industry guy- I will always appreciate that.  In closing, not only did Jerry and Jeff truly care about their industry and their product but primarily I believe absolutely that they cared about the people who worked at TGP.  They were determined to do things the right way and I think they did exactly that.  So this chapter may be over- and I hope Jerry and Jeff stay in contact with our world- but if not it was a great pleasure and honor getting to know them and I thank them for all they have done.

Elsewhere….

--  This week the news that Ricardo Maiz would be named President of Vitro Architectural Glass came out and I’m thrilled.  I have known Ricardo for many years and he’s a tremendous man with talent that I couldn’t even dream of having.  He will do a fantastic job in his new role. 

--  Speaking of new roles I also saw Tammy Schroeder was promoted to Marketing Manager at Linetec. Every time I have ever interacted with Tammy I always leave so impressed by her talent, approach and vision.  She’s been kicking butt at Linetec for 19 years and I am sure with her new gig that greatness will continue! 

--  Please don’t forget about Thirsty Thursday this week- Security Glazing for Schools is the subject and it’s really a good presentation.  Register here.

--  Once again this year I had the honor of being on the BEC Program Planning committee and I can tell you that agenda has really come along nicely.  Most people will say they come to BEC for the networking- and that will obviously still be in play, but this year, the depth of the subject matter, with a supreme focus on the glazing community, makes the event even more valuable.  Obviously as a former host and chair of this event, I am extremely biased, but I sincerely see it worth your time.

--  Here we go again story of the week… Headline of this story is “Glass Towers Are So Passé. What Will Replace Them?” and so I was ready to go crazy… but the article was less inflammatory than the headline and quite frankly the author actually showed a job or two with a great amount of glass.  I think there are people who truly don’t understand the way glass can interact with the other building materials and people are not designing the 1980 style all reflective glass box anymore.  Anyway read for yourself and decide…

Last this week… for my friends in Denver and Kansas City… is this really a thing?  “Denverization”  is the theme…

LINKS of the WEEK

Incredible technology that helps the paralyzed communicate

Amazon, robots, and bear repellant…. Yikes!

Coolest traffic signals ever!

VIDEO of the WEEK

I’m not a big Avengers guy but have seen the movies and they are what they are… good mindless fun… and for more of that we are getting next installment in April… here’s the new trailer that was released Friday and it already has 52 million views!