Articles, Ads, Reports, Pods, & More

No matter how much great content is out there online (and I’ll be mentioning a few below) nothing can replace my monthly dose on insight from Glass Magazine.  So with that said, it is time to review the latest from the “glass and glazing authority” and their special GlassBuild issue does NOT disappoint.  Starting with the cover featuring an incredible eye-catching shot of vacuum portion of a CNC machine from Salem Fabrication Technologies.  I think that’s the 2^nd cover this year for those folks- so congrats on that!  Inside the magazine it’s heavy on GlassBuild content which is tremendous whether you attend or not.  Seeing a ton of products and services that will make your life and business better is a great thing for sure. Also the latest Glass Information Bulletin (GIB) is in there and great to be up to speed on.  

Ad of the month is bear to choose because this being the GlassBuild issue everyone rolled out the best they could muster.  Great work.  But my winner this month is goes to SoftSolution North America with the cat eyes staring at you.  Gets me every time.  Great ad!  And I have to give a quick nod though to the FeneTech testimonial ad- I always like seeing good people and Mike and Joyce Cully of United Plate are amongst the best around.  Seeing them brought a smile to my face.  So kudos to SoftSolution, FeneTech and all the advertisers this month- super work!

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  The latest Architectural Billings Index was strong yet again but did show some slippage from last month.  Possibly some of the uneven aspects of our economy is starting to catch up?  The score of 54.6 down from 57.1 is still excellent but does show there’s some leveling off and the new inquiries came down as well from its insane record high from last month.  So this index may be settling down and as long as it stays in the positive, all good. 

 

--  Some podcast notes.  I was lucky and honored to be a guest on Patrick Flannery’s Glass Canada Glass Talk Podcast recently and we covered a ton of ground some of which probably got me in trouble in some parts of the US.  Was a fun one. Here it is.

On his newest episode Patrick talks to Ryan Spurgeon of Antamex- that one should be very good as Ryan is a very impressive guy with a laser focus.  I am excited to hear what he says and I’ll be checking that one out this week.  That link is HERE.

 

--  NEXT, very pumped about the launch of “The Façade Pod” with Mitch Hawkins and Matt Krier.  These guys have a GREAT plan on the podcast front and have lined up fantastic guests to talk facades and glass.  The quick preview is out- so check it HERE and get ready for their first season debut later this week.  Both of these guys are young stars in our universe- Matt at Viracon and Mitch at Martineau and Company and I think these will be a great one to add to your podcast rotation!  

 

--  Great news this week from the team at Ubiquitous Energy with an initial breakthrough install at Michigan State University.  The school did a fabulous write up of it HERE and this is one to watch as this space will continue to grow as Ubiquitous marches forward.  I am typically more of a University of Michigan fan but after seeing this- I am all for MSU- “Go Green!” – which is both part of the MSU cheer and a great move here too!

 

--  Last this week, a lot has me excited about GlassBuild but I have to admit waiting to see the special stuff Glazier Nation has been teasing is leading in the clubhouse.  Matt Day and company have been building the anticipation for a while with their various trips around the US and as we get closer I have become all in.  I am pretty sure we are going to see something that is going to be big time game changing.  Can’t wait!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

 

Heart warming pet stories get me every time and this one features a turtle, so I’m all in!

 

This is one porch pirate you probably won’t stop!

 

Tremendous composure here that most of us would not show.  I know I’d be inside in a flash.

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

From the Virginia Glass Products feed on LinkedIn.  Awesome laminated vestibule.  This is in North Carolina and it is the Duke-Raleigh Hospital.  Sharp project with laminated from Virginia, installed by SPS Corporation and the design from HOK.  Great work everyone!!

It's ON!

In about 3 weeks the industry will gather once again in Atlanta for GlassBuild.  Yes.  The show is on, everything is still set and hundreds of awesome exhibitors will be there ready to show off the latest and greatest.  No doubt that things have gotten wonkier out there but the excitement of getting to see everyone and do business in a real “live” setting energizes me and many others each and every day.  Obviously, this year is not like any other in the past and there’s differing reasons on why someone would NOT attend, but I can say that those attending are going with missions in mind- this will be probably the most motivated show crowd ever given 18 months between national events and a massive pent-up desire to get back at it.  There are some excellent reasons to attend beyond the big supply chain advantages and networking too.  The “Ask the Experts” sessions with access to the best technical and code minds in our industry is alone worth the visit.  Plus there’s also going to be opportunities to meet the editors of the NGA publications and a ton of content from major trade organizations from all over the construction space too.  The whole package is absolutely worth the time and effort and I hope to see you there.  Book your hotel and register now…. And if you have questions of any kind, ping me, I’d love to talk to you about the show and your visit to Atlanta.

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  In case you missed it, episode 8 of the From the Fabricator podcast dropped last week and the reaction has been incredible.  Thank you.  People have commented to me that they loved the projects that Chris Dolan of Guardian Glass showed, the approaches that Jodi & Dan Martinez of All Star Glass talked about, and the overall attitude of Bill Daubmann of MY Shower Door. Thanks to all that have listened and watched so far!

For audio version- CLICK HERE or you can find it on your favorite podcast app (Apple, Spotify etc.)

For the video version and to see great projects along with my ugly mug- CLICK HERE

 

--  And speaking of Bill Daubmann, congrats to him yet again for making the Inc. 5000 list for I think the 80^th year in a row.  (Or maybe 7^th- not sure!). Bill had two spots on the list with MY Shower Door corporate and also their Tampa store.  Very happy for Bill, who if you check out my podcast really works his tail off to achieve these victories.  Being listed is no accident for him and the great teams at MSD.  Also some newcomers to the list- congrats to Brandon Nicastro and GCS Glass & Mirror and also old friend Kevin Roth at Privacy Glass Solutions (aka Vistamatic) Good to see our world represented!

 

--  Saw the movie “Free Guy” this past week.  Fun and different sort of flick- I enjoyed.  There was a small glass connection- tons of tempered… broken tempered that is… and I enjoyed noting the break patterns.  So much so that my son told me to stop pointing it out and enjoy the movie.  Yep, I have issues… LOL

 

--  Good news for a great person.  Lindsey Parker of Rowe Fenestration was named an Emerging Professional to watch by NAWIC and received national recognition, amplifying the success of women in the construction industry. Lindsey is an absolute Rock Star in our world and I love that a major and important org like NAWIC has pointed that out.  Congrats Lindsey!

 

--  Last this week… another piece of sad news from the California glazing market.  Stan Green the founder of GlasPro passed away .  GlasPro is one of best players in our world and Stan started the business in 1988 and his son Joe has done a tremendous job running and building the business from there.  Stan’s experience in the industry was incredible, and his ability to develop glass and glazing solutions & options, including heavy technical ones were a part of his impressive legacy.  My thoughts and condolences go to Joe, the Green family and everyone at GlasPro with the loss of Stan.

 

LINKS of the WEEK

 

Looks like Wally the Walrus has the life!

Exploding Smart Phones are still a thing? 

Doing the entire Appalachian Trail… at 5 years old! 

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

 

Good one from the feed of Jim Biroscak of Vitro Architectural Glass.  This is in Austin, Texas and it is the “Eastbound” building.  Simple and sharp and the glass and glazing look fabulous.  Design from Gensler.  Install by Dynamic Glass LLC, and glass fabricated by Oldcastle  BuildingEnvelope.  The glass product was Solarban 60 on Starphire.  Beautiful.  Keep up the great work everyone! 

 

 

New Pod & Stunning Closure

The latest edition of the From the Fabricator podcast is now live!  This month I am joined by 4 very cool people all with some excellent stories to tell.  I kick it off with Chris Dolan of Guardian Glass and I love the perspective Chris brings- he is so talented in so many areas of our world, there’s always an angle he brings that gets me- and on this podcast he brings up a few.  Then Jodi and Dan Martinez of All Star Glass join me and they blew me away- talk about a couple that does things the right way. The way they dealt with the pandemic and kept rolling was just one impressive item of many we covered.  Last I chopped it up with the great Bill Daubmann of MY Shower Door and D3.  Bill is an incredible business man and also an inspiration as someone who absolutely figures out a way to get it done and then keeps going.  Also a great guy too- really cares about our world.  So a lot of interesting tidbits on this one, thank you for checking it out!

For audio version- CLICK HERE or you can find it on your favorite podcast app (Apple, Spotify etc.)

For the video version and to see great projects along with my ugly mug- CLICK HERE

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  The Apogee news on closing Statesboro, GA and Velocity still has me stunned- especially the Velocity portion.  Just did not see that coming at all.  I was in Texas for TEXpo and people were raving about Velocity and I know they had extremely talented people running that organization.  Obviously, there’s new management at the top of Apogee and there’s always that angle where the new have to come in and make their mark and I guess this is it.  Plus being a public company, if the shareholders want to see some action, this certainly can goose the stock price.  I can grasp the logic on the Georgia plant but on Velocity I am still stunned. 

 

--  Where were the hot spots during the first half of 2021?  Dodge broke it all down and some of the metro areas may surprise you.  Good read. 

--  Congrats to Rob Kassabaum for the launch of Central State Glass in Florida.  Rob bought the non-auto glass options from K&K Glass and has set out on his own with a nice head start.  Rob is a good man, with tons of experience in our industry, and will do a nice job with this business.  Happy for him and looking forward to seeing what he does in the marketplace!

 

--  Massive pet peeve of mine… so “Architect” magazine sent out a big e-mail calling for new product entries for a special section they are doing.  To submit your product you had to pay $125 for processing.  Then in the body of the e-mail it noted that you are not guaranteed to be mentioned or included in the section and no money back. To me this is filthy.  The money is not the issue- that’s tiny, BUT it really is the scammy hook here.  I know space and bandwidth is limited, but if you are charging for it, at the very least have an area of links of those that didn’t make it.  To me this is a weak cash grab preying on smaller building product players and startups who don’t have the connections out there or the major budgets to take-out full-scale ads. (In our current “pay to play” ad world) And playing this as special editorial section while charging for it, is pitiful- but it’s not surprising.  This magazine obviously knows people will pay it and not care because the opportunity to get in front of an architect for many building product folks is the great goal in their life.  So, throwing any sort of money away for that hope is worth it, I guess.

 

--  Last this week… Another good podcast to add to your rotation?  Jim Evans of Bid Clips hosts one called “Today in Trades” and it’s a great range of subjects on the subcontractor side of things.  He does delve into auto glass and some areas that aren’t typical to the reader of this blog, but overall really good stuff. I’ve become a big fan of Jim’s- he’s a GlassNerd ™(Andrew Haring) through and through!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

--  A good news story from the Olympics you may not have seen.

 

--  I am not a fan of snakes- this would freak me out

 

--  Wow- big rock comes flying through home- thankfully no one hurt- be careful on those construction sites!

PROJECT of the WEEK

So in this stunning picture below is a project that features products from LAURIER ARCHITECTURAL, AGC Glass Company North America and ICD High Performance Coatings. It came to me via the great Casey Anderson and when Casey recommends something, I am there.  Plus it had the endorsement of Ben Wojcikiewicz and I like pretty much everything he posts- so easy call to make this my “Project of the Week”- even though I am not sure what building or buildings have their material! LOL!  Regardless well done all!!

Bernard and Dick Sr.

This isn’t going to be a normal post for me.  This past week was a rough one in our industry.  Two tremendous and important men passed away.  One was very well known nationally, one was not.  Both though had immeasurable effects on our business and I am dedicating this post to each of them.  Remembering Bernard Lax and Dick Macurak Sr.

 

Bernard Lax of Pulp Studios was extremely well known and when I named him as one of the most influential people in our industry last year, he was one of the easiest choices. Bernard came into our industry and did it his way and did it better than pretty much everyone- and he was not shy about noting that either.  Better yet, he was PROUD to point that out.  The last time I saw Bernard was BEC 2020 and he showed me the edges on his laminated glass.  They were pristine and perfect and that was the bottom line standard that Bernard demanded and engrained in all his organization provided.  Bernard also constantly gave back- he was asked to speak and present so many times and he pretty much always accepted and always came through with interesting and smart performances.  He truly was something to behold. From a personal standpoint I loved every interaction I had with Bernard.  I loved running into him and Lynda at the shows and getting 10 minutes with him while he updates me on the latest and greatest.  I loved hearing about the new innovations he worked on and enjoyed hearing about whatever new venture he was working on like his custom whiskey business.  The first time I met Bernard I was pretty green.  We shared a cab after a conference and I was enthralled with everything that Bernard was delivering to me, and I hated when we arrived at the airport. Then and pretty much every time after Bernard would tell me “anytime you can get out to me, come see my operation” and I always said I would.  I never did and that eats at me more than ever now.  

When I got the call early last week that Bernard may be very sick, I was floored, I couldn’t process it. Bernard was always larger than life and him not being around and active is something too hard to fathom.  I will miss him, and our industry will miss him a ton. To Lynda, Taylor, and the team at Pulp, and all of Bernard’s friends, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

My pal Andrew Haring was one of many who been online with tributes,  I wanted to share his here too.

 

Dick Macurak Sr. was not a national figure like Bernard but he has a legacy that is very comparable. Dick built DM Products in Pittsburgh from a small glazier to one that does massive monumental projects today. Dick and the Macurak family are amongst the classiest people out there.  Dick Sr. worked with my Dad and Grandfather at the old United Plate starting in 1954.  He was a key part of the business but in 1972 he decided to start out on his own.  He bet on himself and it paid off as he succeeded in many awesome ways and now with his son Dick Jr. at the helm DM Products is a monster.  Dick Sr. stayed active literally to the day he died.  He was working in the business until early July when he ended up in the hospital, and even while there he was in contact with the office, with one of his last phone calls wanting details about a big bid coming up.  The guy was a worker from day 1 and every bit of the 67 years after.  So many family businesses struggle to move from one generation to the next but Dick Sr. made it seamless and smart. With Dick Sr.’s influence DM Products embraced working with new technology and great suppliers (like the fantastic folks from United Architectural- who were/are ahead of the game).  Dick Sr. valued and cherished relationships (a great trait passed on to his son and grandson in the business) to the point that it allowed advanced collaboration and always kept their supply chain at its strongest.  

My sister Marcie (who worked more directly with Dick Sr. and DM than I did back in the day) said it best to me, that Dick Sr. was a gentleman and scholar, one of the nicest people she ever worked with and someone that no matter what happened always was pure class.  I am sure that I could ask that same question to tons of other people in the Pittsburgh market and they would agree.

To Dick Jr, Kathy, and all of the Macurak family as well as the DM Products team, my thoughts and prayers to you all as well.

 

If you’ve gotten this far thanks for hanging with me on journey to pay honor to these great men. Our world and our industry are a little less together today, but we owe it to great leaders like Bernard and Dick Sr. to stay focused, innovate, love, and push our businesses and industry further- I know I will….

 

LINKS of the WEEK & PROJECT of the WEEK

These will return next week along with a more traditional blog.  Until then stay well everyone. 

Focused Forward

It’s August.  This year is just flying by.  We are now just 6 weeks away from GlassBuild and I am trying to stay focused on that and not on the absolute circus in the US with regards to the virus, mandates, and so on.  Since the pandemic started, I have avoided that discussion here because you all can read it somewhere else and this is a place to get away from that- but I’m lifting that for a moment just to say I am hopeful that the backward angles (and what I consider absolute bizarre guidance and horrendous messaging) that is taking place right now will be temporary and we’ll be back on track again.  That's it. I refuse to look back- I said that at the start of this year after getting that wisdom from Mr. Friese and Randy Steinberg- don’t look back, only go forward.  So here we go, 6 weeks we’ll all be together at an incredibly important event, and exhibitors are hustling daily to prepare the best exhibits you have ever seen.  Hopefully saner minds will rise above, and this will be a blip in time.   So, join me, look positively at the future, and get excited to be in Atlanta at the show.  GlassBuild.com to register and any questions feel free to ping me.   

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  If you happened to miss my podcast for July, please check it out.  It was a fun one with really interesting people.  First up was Charles Alexander of Walker Glass.  Interesting guy and a company that truly gets being diverse and active.  Then to Adrian Lowenstein of Skyline Windows, young, sharp, and an absolute riser in our world- love his takes.  Last but not least Jen Marchesani of Shildan, and I have gotten a ton of feedback on her segment and the new appreciation for Terra Cotta.  So to view this on YouTube and see pictures of great work from these folks CLICK HERE and if you just want to listen the audio is HERE or you can download from wherever you listen to podcasts.  Thank you!

 

--  Nice match up of Lite Sentry and SoftSolution- two excellent companies partnering up for the greater good. I like it.  I respect both organizations and their products which are crucial to high quality in our fabrication plants. I think arrangements like this only make things better in the end- so congrats to all involved!

 

--  Good to see the news on Rhyno Glass becoming first company in Florida to reach NACC status.  I have never been shy in communicating my respect for the NACC program and I think it is absolutely crucial for the future and health of our industry.  Congrats to the Rhyno team for being first in Florida- let’s keep adding to that list there and everywhere else!

 

--  I have seen a few stories over the years on repurposing on suburban shopping malls and this is a good one from ArchDaily pointing out the move of malls to residential living.  We need to do more of this… 

 

--  We as an industry go to Atlanta every other year… well look out, there are BIG plans for the area around the World Congress Center area coming in the future.  The initial thoughts from world class firm Foster + Partners is out and it looks very promising.  Could the area there become a hot spot like Nashville?  Hmmmmmm.  Check it out.   (Note: NOTHING can be as great as Nashville, but areas can try….)

 

--  Last this week… normally when you see a story about a 27,000 sq ft house for sale (and not selling) there’s a backstory.  This one surely has it.  Interesting one here, and this is A LOT of house.  Wow.

 

LINKS of the WEEK

Another person going past barriers to get close to dangerous animals.  And you know what happens next…

 

I seriously don’t get how a sports trading card – especially recent ones- can be worth millions.

 

Whoa!  Could SpongeBob be real?

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

North of the US border again this week with an interior project from Accura Glass.  I think you know I love interior work and when you can utilize bent glass properly on an interior it is a massive win/win.  Accura did that here, added a decorative touch to it and off they go.  Glass on the interior is a major growth area- nice work from Accura on meeting this need. Congrats!