AGC-Cardinal- The Deal

Well… how about the news from this past week?  Big stuff.  Before the word broke that the deal was done, the rumors on Cardinal and AGC making a deal were everywhere.  So it happening was not a surprise.  The shock was the timing.  Most did not expect it to happen so soon and the talk was always about seeing who else would be involved with the deal as it revolved around the auto glass portion of AGC’s business.  So now that the major share of this deal is done let’s take a look.  Cardinal is a tremendous company with great people.  When they make a deal (see Catalina for example) it is usually a massive success.  So there’s no doubt they know what they are doing.  The overarching fear from my vantage point is what does this do to an already tight supply chain- specifically on the commercial and heavy glass side.  Obviously, this is way too soon to know exactly what will happen and I am sure Cardinal is weighing everything into their future approaches with these new plants.  But I’d be lying if I didn’t say the fear of more adventures in procuring glass is somewhat overwhelming right now.  I have faith in the process though and look forward to seeing where the next steps lead.  In the meantime, the overall deal itself from an historical base is amazing- for those of us who have been in this business for a while, the growth of Cardinal is surely something to see and the evolution of AGC- from the days of AFG- to now- is also a story. (Another chapter for my book)   The glass world has just seen a massive change, what comes next is surely going to bear watching and an adventurous year already just got spiced up even more! 

 

Elsewhere….

 

--  If you missed my latest Podcast, here are the links. (Audio, Video)  This entire podcast process really has been an enjoyable one for me.  To catch up with old friends and to meet new ones is simply awesome.  And this latest pod was a mix of both.  Meeting Kayla Natividad and Omar Maalouf virtually was awesome and catching up with my friend Andrew Haring was incredibly cool.  The feedback on all has been so positive.  Thank you for checking it out and supporting this effort each month!

 

--  Big and exciting news from Glaziers on Demand and Glazier Nation.  Greg Whittle was announced as the new President of Glaziers on Demand. Greg is a fantastic guy and great advocate for the best in our industry.  Congrats!  There’s a lot of big-time exciting news that is coming from the Glazier Nation side of the world, so this is just a start.  Good to see!

 

--  Speaking of good to see news… Q Railing got some great pub recently with their publication of the widest ICC-ESR report ever in the glass railing industry.  You can read the entire report HERE but this thing is loaded with an excellent approach that covers a broad range of shoes, every building code known to man, and some smart approaches to edge protection and more.  Congrats to Jan Hulin and the team at Q.

 

--  Thanks to past Glass Industry MVP Jon Kimberlain of Dow as he gave me a huge heads up on the 50th anniversary of the first 4 sided SSG project.  The SHG building in Detroit.  Obviously, that was a gamechanger for sure.  Jon and the team are doing a paper for GPD and they’ll be a lot more out on this coming up.  I‘m going to try and dig in and get some interviews as well.  Until then check out this link from a few years ago of Jon being his legendary self and calling the shots on the growth of this product.  Good stuff! 

 

--  The latest ABC Construction Backlog report was a good one but it was tempered by contractor worry on the supply chain (no surprise.)  Now this coming week the latest Architectural Billings Index will be released and it has been on a roll.  Will this continue?  The most recent Dodge Momentum reports (which are different metrics and timing) have been positive in the commercial space, so all signs point to the good trend continuing.  We shall see and I’ll comment on it with my next post. 

 

--  Last this week- PROGRAMMING NOTE- No blog post next week.  Time to take a week off from this duty.  I’ll be back again in this space week of July 4th! Until then stay well and for those of you in the US, Happy Independence Day!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

 

--  Big (bad) news for old school Microsoft Windows fans. (I’m all Apple but I do have friends in this area)

 

--  I saw this story a few times and it still baffles me.  Even with the pandemic, how can you be so far off with inventory?  15 million extra boxes of Girl Scout Cookies?

 

-- The NCAA continues to be a mess.  By the way both the Women’s Softball Championships and the Men’s Baseball Championships are very underrated events- awesome follows and watches!

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

We go inside for this week’s focus… This is from 8G Solutions and Chuck Mowery.  Great company out of Kansas City.  This is the Indian Creek Elementary School in KC.  

Saw this on LinkedIn and 8G noted the glass handrail installed that features a custom gradient dot frit on Low Iron glass.  Beautiful!!  Congrats to 8G and also the fabricator on the job, the fine folks at Insulite Glass.  Keep up the good work all!

Amazing Insights

There is quite a bit going on in our industry right now so the timing of the latest edition of the “From the Fabricator” podcast is pretty lucky for me.  Between that and this post we’ll get you caught up!  On the 6^th episode of the podcast, which you can watch HERE or listen to HERE, I am honored to be joined by three awesome guests.  I have Dr. Kayla Natividad of NSG Pilkington who brings one of the brightest and coolest technical minds to our industry.  We cover green building goods and bads among other items in a fun conversation.  Then I get to know Omar Maalouf of Momentum Glass.  Such an impressive guy, great path, and the project he profiles is a study in resilience and a desire to get things done.  That and smart execution at so many levels of his business really connected with me.  I end with the great Andrew Haring of NGA and we touch on a ton of subjects including influencers and great leaders.  Plus I have some thoughts on the current supply adventures and three excellent programs to watch on HBO Max if you have it.  So please check it out, I appreciate the support and look forward to any and all feedback! 

VIDEO Version

AUDIO Version (also on all major podcast apps)

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  The supply chain adventure as mentioned above is intense and now in full swing.  The need to communicate at all levels is now more needed than ever.  There are many organizations that are doing that well and others that may have their head in the sand.  Good luck to those who aren’t being proactive.  And I think as most of you know, it’s not just glass that is a challenge right now but many other components too.  This rocky road is here for a bit, so buckle up!

 

--  Sad news this week as an absolute titan of the glazing community passed away.  Bob Massey Sr. of Massey’s Plate Glass & Aluminum died this past Wednesday.  Bob started Massey’s Plate in 1973 and with his son Bob Jr. grew it into an absolutely major player in our industry.  His company has done a ton of significant work in the New England area and they have always been on the leading edge with the trends whether it was product or being one of the first companies to get NACC Certified.  This is a huge loss to our industry and obviously to the Massey family and company there.  My condolences to Bob Jr. and the entire Massey family.

 

--  I am always in learning mode so this week when I was pointed to a virtual tour of SAGE Glass, I jumped all over it.  I feel like I know the dynamic space pretty well and had been at one of SAGE’s original locations years ago.  Well, I can honestly say this tour was a tremendous education and I learned some new things- and I was extremely impressed with the team and culture on display in the piece.  And from a production standpoint- this thing sets the standard for how a virtual tour should be done.  Congrats to the team who put it together- great work.  If you want to check it out- here’s where to start.

 

--  This week- Thirsty Thursday is back with an update on the California AB 262 legislation.  If you do glass and glazing in California, you need to attend.  If you don’t it’s worth attending to see what the fuss is about and to potentially prepare in case this legislation comes your way.  The awesome Urmilla Sowell of the NGA will present.  CLICK HERE to sign up it is FREE to attend.

 

--  Last this week… I am finally catching up on the “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and of course being a glass guy, I can’t help but look at the glass and glazing when it plays a role.  In the episode I watched there was quite a bit of action around some epic skylights and all I could think of was skylight experts like Brian Thomas or Ted Bleecker pausing their TV’s to take a closer look at the construction etc.  I actually did that too- but I have no clue compared to brilliant minds like those folks and everyone else who works on intense overhead glazing.  In any case, I can’t be the only one who allows my professional glass life to always jump into my leisure time! 

 

LINKS of the WEEK

--  Because I pretty much only travel domestic and Delta, I have never been on this sort of plane with these dimmers.  Interesting story here.

 

--  Wild story- man owns a house and won’t sell while a massive commercial development goes up around him.  The video including time lapse of the neighborhood is something.

 

--  The article notes this sounds like a movie plot- something tells me it will be.  A former Governor tied to a Cold Murder Case?

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

I am a huge fan of TSI Corporations and they always are posting awesome projects on LinkedIn.  The one I am picking for the project of the week they have been updating for a while and the latest picture looks like it’s almost ready for prime time.  This is in SW Washington DC and the glass and glazing look absolutely spectacular.  I am excited to see finished shots when done, but this collage that they posted gives a great flavor of the project.  Kudos to everyone at TSI for this and all the other excellent work they do!

June Bloom

It’s already June.  My gosh this year is flying right on by and maybe it seems more intense because things are opening back up (at least in the US- sorry for my Canadian friends especially) and that rush to normalcy just has the pace more hectic.  At the beginning of this month a few different things kicked off.  First June brings the annual start to Hurricane Season.  For the next few months, we’ll be on high alert with regards to storms moving into the east coast or up through the Gulf.  The glass and glazing industry has truly made a major impact (no pun intended) on this space.  Our Hurricane Impact materials changed the way buildings and homes can be built in the affected areas and has every other trade chasing us still.  Obviously, my hope is always for a very light season (predictions are for it to be busier than usual) but if there are rough storms ahead at least we know our world has done and is doing our part.  In addition, the start of June brought the opening of GlassBuild registration and if the first few days are any indication this is going to be an event like none other.  People are fired up to get back to some face to face settings.  If you haven’t jumped on yet, go ahead and get your plans set- and keep in mind the Glazing Executives Forum is a major worthwhile event too- click that box while you’re in there signing up!

 

Elsewhere….

 

--  Get your nominations in for the most prestigious award program in our industry- The Glass Magazine Awards!  All the details can be found HERE and it’s going to be a heck of a competition this year because the dating is extended back to September of 2019.  So get your info in and have a chance to win!

 

--  Next week, the 6^th edition of the From the Fabricator podcast will be released.  I’ll be taping the interviews this week and I am excited about the three guests I have lined up.  Three tremendous people all doing very very good things in our industry!  Can’t wait to share!

 

--  Speaking of people doing good things in our industry- I’ve written here more than a few times about Bill Daubmann and his family- they are always making positive news in our world and I am thrilled that I have Bill lined up to be a guest on the podcast in August.  One thing I’ll be asking about is this- “workforce signing day” a great promotion Bill put into play this year and will only grow.  Check out the local news coverage HERE!

 

--  At TEXpo I was lucky enough to meet Jim Evans of BidClips (good energetic guy) and then this week I got a demo of Jim’s product and I have to say I was extremely impressed.  Tremendous platform for the retail glass shop.. if you want to learn more CLICK HERE.  

 

--  Last this week… from the things can change fast category… Katerra which was the big-time flavor of the month a few years ago and had a ton of money coming in, is now done.  Architects Newspaper had good rundown of what happened. Is there a future for an automated modular prefab player again?  Probably.  But you have to wonder how the next people into this space will proceed and who will back them.  

 

LINKS of the WEEK

--  The most passed around article this week? This Vanity Fair deep dive into the origins of COVID.  

 

--  Justin Wolf is a great connection on LinkedIn (Thank you Barbara Horwitz-Bennett for the intro) and he had great article this week on the future of the Car Dealership.  Interesting stuff and this does affect our industry too. 

 

--  Did you see the teen fight off a BEAR to protect her dogs?  Wow…. 

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

So not every project I put on here is a monster or monumental.  I like anything that makes our product look good or even ones that show off the surroundings nicely too.  This one from the great folks at Hall Aluminum Products fits that bill. Beautiful and clean install that allows those surroundings to be seen clearly in the reflection.  Very cool.  Nice, solid work done by a great group in our industry!  Congrats to all!