Deals, Awards, Entrepreneurs and More

This is another week where there’s no lead story but a bunch of smaller ones to comment on or catch up with.  Including two stories I completely missed along with a bunch of other relevant items. 

 

--  On the stories I missed… First off, I missed commenting on the FeneTech deal that went down in early August.  Big time software designer 2020 of Westwood, Mass bought FeneTech and it looks like a positive deal for all parties especially because the core group at Fenetech including Ron Crowl will be staying on board.  That part is huge for the industry and now adding in some extra innovation won’t hurt!

 

--  Then I missed an excellent article in Glass Canada from my guy Rich Porayko on the changes to e-mail blasts that could affect many marketing approaches.  The piece is strong, and it is HERE, so check it out and you’ll be able to get even more insight from Rich on my November podcast (coming soon, as long as Rich doesn’t skip out on me for that Joe Rogan offer he has.) 

 

--  Some good news to share… and speaking of podcast- recent guests Winco Window had something to celebrate recently after being tabbed with the 2021 Family Business Award from the St. Louis Business Journal.  Absolutely well-deserved and I am very happy for Gantt & Woody Miller, and everyone at Winco for making it happen and bringing excellent publicity to our industry!

 

--  Also good news to the great folks at Ubiquitous Energy with an award from the National Science Foundation. It is recognition like this that gives our industry a positive boost and shows our innovative chops. Our would DOES develop products that make a difference!   Congrats to the team at Ubiquitous on this excellent honor!

 

--  List time again!  This time the fastest growing cities for entrepreneurs.  These are the cities seeing noticeable growth with new companies…. 

 

10- Nashville, TN- Not a surprise though honestly expected higher.  Also make sure you are there for BEC and GPAD in March of 2022 to see for yourself!

9- Milwaukee, WI- This is a surprise, and good to see as plenty of excellent people I know living in that region

8- Jacksonville, FL- All Thomas Lee I am sure.

7- Birmingham, AL- I have been impressed with this area each time I visit

6- Buffalo, NY- May be cold there but that area must be jumping

5- Charleston, SC- My buddy moved there a year ago and he tells me its bananas with growth

4- Greensboro-Winston Salem- This one does stun me for sure. I like the area but didn’t see it in the same class as all of these others.

3- Louisville, KY- Exciting to see- the area really has been on the move.  The great Tony Kamber continues to work his magic in that region.

2- Colorado Springs, CO- Floored by this- can someone from that area confirm?

And at #1

Greenville, SC!  I have been here a few times and each time it gets more and more impressive.  This does not shock me one bit and I think it’s going to be on the move for a while.  I am sure at one time cities like Charlotte, NC were on this list and now they are built out.  I am surprised that nothing in the Maryland, Virginia area are on here- but maybe that’s my glass industry bias since it seems like every day someone new is opening in that region.  Plus has Texas built all the way out?  Salt Lake City?  Anyway- good stuff and interesting to see where the growth is!

 

--  Sad news, Steve LeVan of Chicago Heights Glass passed away this week.  Steve was a class act through and through and absolute pioneer and true legend in the Chicago glazing market.  His legacy is left behind with a great company and son Kurt that continues to be among the best our industry has ever seen.  Steve will be missed and my sincerest condolences to Kurt, the LeVan family and the entire team at Chicago Heights Glass.

 

--  Last this week- No blog post for me next week!  Taking a week off from this to energize for the stretch run with more podcasts, the industry MVP and more!  I’ll be back in this space the week of November 14^th unless something major happens in our world….

 

LINKS of the WEEK

This is peak 2021, Lost hiker ignores rescue cell calls because number wasn’t recognized?  I mean if I’m lost I’d even talk to the telemarketer!  Come on!

 

The birthdays in this home will be easy to track!  3 on the same day- all 3 years apart!

 

I’m stunned this didn’t happen in Florida.  First Gator story in a different state in a while.

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

Quaker Windows hops into the spotlight this week thanks to a post from Brent Simpson.  

This is the Smoky Hollow Project in Downtown Raleigh, NC showing the Quaker CityLine Beveled Windows.  Looks absolutely fantastic!  Congrats to Brent, Quaker, and my old pal Josh Wignall who is on fire in his role at Quaker….

Future Still Looking Positive

Through all of the crazy and frustrating challenges we are facing the one good index that has been on a roll, continued that this week with the latest Architectural Billings Index.  The latest ABI came in at a stunning score of 56.6 which is up from 55.6 last month (remember over 50 is positive) and now rates as what I believe is the 2^nd highest score ever.  While things continue to be soft in some areas, the fact that we have had 8 solid months of the ABI shows that commercial work should be looking good in 2022.  Another big stat- backlogs at Architectural firms are now at 6.6 months, longest since this polling started 11 years ago.  So the pipeline is looking good, hopefully when it starts flowing in a larger way we have product and supply to fabricate and install!  

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  Also, this week I sat in on webinar devoted to the AEC Industry and there were many positive takeaways there as well.  The big ones were that firms are busier than ever (matching what was noted above) and that there’s some serious optimism on not only 2022 but growth all the way towards 2030.  The worry is the workforce.  Every community now is in the same soup of trying to find people and what was interesting here was some polling done talking about “work from home.”  Employees want to work from home at least 3 days a week but management (68% of them according to a poll noted in the webinar) want their folks IN the office at least 3 days a week.  So there is surely some hashing out to come and why is this important to us?  Because eventually the glut of offices that are in line for a glass related renovation will break loose too.

 

--  Speaking of where has the workforce gone, there was a survey posted this week via JP Morgan with their angle on where the workforce has gone.  They are:

35%: financial cushion with unemployment benefits, stimulus, savings 

20%: early retirees 

10%: immigration and visa issues 

10%: rise in self-employment 

25% "other": COVID fears, child care constraints

What do you think?  My take is the first one may be too high and the 2^nd one maybe too low?  Regardless this was the first data I have seen on this and will be looking for more as I assume more polling will be taking place here.  But the bigger question though is how do we address this all?

 

--  CONGRATS to Manny Borda of IGE Glass Technologies.  This week it was noted on LinkedIn that he celebrated his 20^thyear in the industry at IGE.  Happy for Manny and IGE.  I met Manny during my first trip to glasstec in Germany in 2014.  We briefly spoke at the show.  But then we ended up on the same plane to Atlanta after and as I was trying to figure out where to go and what to do with customs, Manny stopped and took care of me- he had all the global passes (I had none) and so he really slowed himself down to make sure I was headed in the right direction.  (trust me I was clueless and Manny recognized that)  I always appreciated that, and he’s been friend ever since. Here’s to many many more years in our world Manny! 

 

--  Also CONGRATS to Chris Knitter and the team at Oahu Metal and Glazing for achieving certification in the NACC Program.  Chris is a good guy that I have been lucky to know a very long time and he now leads the way as the first NACC certified player in the great state of Hawaii!  The NACC program continues to roll and I am still solidly behind the need for it- the more that get on board the better we all will be.  

 

--  Last this week… pet peeve time.. if you know me, you know I love my HGTV, and one series I do enjoy is the Canadian editions of Renovation Inc.  Some episodes that aired in Canada years ago are finally airing in the US now.  A recent one had work going on at amazing cottage and there was a part focused on a mirror install that was not going well.  Mirror was too big. The issue I had was seeing the folks handling the mirror without PPE and it was giving me the Sunday Scaries.  Watching folks handle a thin mirror without things like gloves absolutely makes me bonkers.  It’s the one thing I see the most on HGTV is how with glass (unless its Dustin Anderson and his crew) these folks aren’t equipped like they should.  Just glad no one got hurt (that we know of) and I can move back on and enjoy the shows and complain to my wife that their estimates of re-doing the bathroom are waaay too low. 

 

LINKS of the WEEK

The perils of getting your coffee delivered… comical.

 

A scuba diver finds a heck of a treasure

 

Say it Aint So… No more kids named “Nigel”- really?

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

It’s been a nice run for the team at Rhyno Glass in Florida.  They too recently achieved NACC certification and their President and Founder Wyatt Castellvi, was named to a prestigious 40 under 40 list.  But what I assume their biggest honor will be is having a project HERE in the Project of the Week section!  LOL.  Seriously though this is a look from the interior of the beautiful Clearwater Aquarium.  Tremendous work on the CW by the Rhyno team!  Congrats and keep up the great work!!

Finally Getting It

I chuckle sometimes on how far ahead all of us are in this industry vs. most of the world.  Case in point- the supply chain.  We all have been intimately involved in the massive supply challenges as it pertains to our industry for many months now, also while noticing the rest of the world is a mess too.  Well comically in the last 2 weeks it seems like the focus in the media and government have finally turned their attention over at the turmoilistic (new word I just created) supply chain.  This excellent article in the Washington Post started it off, with a deep dive into a majority of the issues (including those we’ve been dealing with for a while with regards to cargo) and then this past week Washington DC finally waded into the pool and initially addressed it.   Does the extra sunlight being applied to this mess mean things will improve anytime soon?  Probably not.  But it is nice to see that finally more people are paying attention and who knows maybe that will help move things a little quicker. 

 

Elsewhere…

--  REMINDER- in case you missed it- the 10^th episode of the From the Fabricator podcast dropped last week and I have loved the reactions so far.  The Winco Window duo of Gantt and Woody Miller brought people commenting to me about the impressiveness of their operation and their approach.  Emily Yukish’s turn on the show was big one for many who noted that we need more of her in our world, bright, young and focused.  And for Ron Parker, besides people asking me about his diet (Fruit) and his amazing recovery from ALS, the systems/structure in the operations realm really hit home.  If you have not checked it out yet please do!  I appreciate it!

VIDEO

AUDIO

 

--  I have noted here previous, but he did it again with another excellent update.  “He” is Matt Verderamo of Alliance Exterior Construction and he continued his LinkedIn series with issue #3 of “Talking Shop” with this one focused on forecasts.  Job well done and worth the read!  Connect and follow him to stay in touch.

 

--  This one surprised me.  A recent study said that building firms are using Facebook as their favorite social media outlet.  I am completely stunned by that and when you see the % too I think you may be as well.  Part of me thinks that Facebook must’ve commissioned the study because I don’t see it. 

 

--  Also surprising?  The non res sector added jobs last month.  First one since March.  Where did you all find the folks?  LOL.  Seriously interesting to see….but also sobering when you see how far underwater we are labor wise compared to pre-pandemic timing. 

 

--  On my previous blog I noted the “deathstar” building in California with TOTALLY missing the fact it won a Glass Magazine award this year.  Yes, my mush brain at work there.  So to see more on this amazing structure here’s the award winning writeup.

 

--  Last this week… question for my Chicago readers… so there was a viral controversy this week over actor John Cusack rooting for the Chicago White Sox when he’s been known and shown to be a big Chicago Cubs fan.  I always thought that in Chicago it was one or the other- you were only a fan of one and the rivalry between the fans intense.  Heck I visited a glazier there one time and guys that had White Sox flags on their cars were teased tremendously by the Cubs fans at the shop.   So has that changed?  Is it all about Chicago now and not the teams?  Just curious…

 

LINKS of the WEEK

A bear gets inside your house and the big issue is how to get it back out!

 

Long and frustrating read on how a condo board was really waaay too drunk with power in enforcing a rule.  

 

Most unique “Drive” thru I have seen. 

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

This ended up on my LinkedIn feed and I really like it and hope to learn more on the products used.  This was from Jeff Kolveck, Lead Glazier at Hutts Glass and this project in progress is a new cancer center at the Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in eastern Pennsylvania.  So far so good Jeff and the team at Hutts- keep up the good work!!

New Pod, Jobsites, Careers, and the "Deathstar"

The 10^th episode of the From the Fabricator podcast is now out!  This one features guests that aren’t usually in the typical industry spotlight, but they all have some great messages and insights to share.  I start off with Gantt and Woody Miller of Winco Window.  Company is more than 100 years old and it’s in a constant state of growth and innovation. Was a fun dive into where they came from and where they are going!  Next was Emily Yukish of Specified Systems.  You know me I am determined to spotlight more of our younger stars in this industry and Emily fits that bill.  Emily is doing it the right way and Specified is an impressive operation.  Last, I chat with Ron Parker.  Ron is the best independent operations guru in our industry.  His takes on safety, systems and structure were an absolute masterclass.  Every fabrication plant could gain from Ron’s insights.  So 10 episodes are in the books now and I feel like each month I/we gain knowledge and growth from these guests.  More good things to come here, so thank you again for supporting this effort.  It is valued and appreciated!

To watch this episode- CLICK HERE

To listen (and available wherever you listen to pods too like Apple and Spotify) CLICK HERE

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  You are seeing it quite a bit online and, in the trades, but this month is Careers in Construction Month.  I think all of us pushing this is more crucial than ever. We have all seen that it’s gotten even harder to attract folks to our awesome world, so time for those of us in it to step up and help this cause.  As a part of this effort, Glass Magazine asked for Glaziers to send in your selfies on the job- they’ll take pictures and/or video.  See this link for more and these will be featured on all of the powerful platforms of Glass Magazine and the National Glass Association.  If you are reading this and you’re not in the field, ask your teammates to do it- let’s grow our world and show it off!!

 

--  In addition, Jenni Chase of the NGA had a great personal take on all of this and what else you can do to get involved.

 

--  Had to laugh on this one… new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is open and it seriously looks like the Deathstar from Star Wars.  It’s a heck of a design but being tagged “deathstar” is probably not making people very happy. Regardless this story gives a deep review of this project along with some of the frustrations with its mission.  Good read.

 

--  Last this week… I was lucky enough to accompany Brian Thomas of Super Sky and Joe Lucchese of JML Architectural Products on a couple of project site visits in Detroit recently.  That was a tremendous experience, first on-site visits for me in a long time.  When these projects are done, they will be stunners for sure.   I have noted on here previously that Super Sky always blows me away, so seeing their product as it was being installed gave me even more appreciation.  It was also neat to see Detroit working to build up parts of its city and also cool to see Viracon and Quaker Window products being installed along the way on these jobs.  Looking good folks!  And I must add that it was great to get to know Joe- I love seeing high quality manufacturers reps deeply involved and engaged in the nitty gritty out there.  Good stuff!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

--  Love seeing these good sportsmanship stories!

 

--  Have you seen the “Pandora Papers” coverage yet?  Very interesting on the rich and powerful evading taxes and making money in some not so ethical ways.

--  There has to be more to this story on a bad home build. Way too many hoops that we all have to jump through for this to happen.

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

From the feed of BEES or Building Envelope Erection Services.  This is on the campus of North Carolina A & T.  I liked this one for a bunch of reasons.  It is a beautiful job that shows off the greatness of our products. But I really liked the way that BEES threw out props to all of the collaborators on this project.  Of course, seeing my friends from Clover Architectural noted caught my eye first but then the list went on and featured industry stalwarts like Charlotte Glass Contractors, Kawneer, Press Glass, and Pecora.  Congrats to all of you on a job well done as well as props to Balfour Beatty, Triumph Engineering and the tremendous design from EYP.  Great work!!

Yes, Glass is Great

Last week Glass Magazine published a story that took off like a rocket ship and was shared a ton on social media.  Honestly this was a story that should be shared in every office in our industry and with as many people outside of our bubble as possible.  The article written by the awesome Karen Wegert of the NGA Tech Super Hero team was “6 Reasons to Love Architectural Glass” and it hit so many high points in such a quick and efficient manner.  All of us who work in this industry love the product.  We may hate the game and may be frustrated by tons of other areas but the product is special and Karen did a super job in pushing that theme.  The reason I think we need to share this widely is I don’t think enough people realize how great glass is and all of the things it brings to the party.  Plus, thanks to some amazing entrepreneurial companies, glass continues to evolve with more performance and more advantages. So we have a ton to be proud of and I loved that so many shared this piece already.  Let’s keep spreading the gospel out there and kudos to Karen and the NGA tech team for once again delivering the goods.

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  Time for this month’s Glass Magazine review… and it was the annual Glass Magazine Awards edition.  There was no doubt this one would be keeper showing off the best of the best in our industry with a focus on the winners in this year’s competition.  Absolute showstoppers in here and kudos to the judges as I am sure their decisions were extremely challenging.  In addition to the rundown of the winners with all of the pertinent details, the magazine also had articles from the excellent Matt Johnson of the Gary Law Group and my guy Joe Erb of Quanex (who never fails to make a great point or 100). Plus Katy Devlin on the “Digital Factory” is one to catch for sure.  Tremendous issue overall and one to give you inspiration to be one of the winners in the 2022 Glass Magazine Awards!

 

--  The ad of the month was a tough one as I try not to award the same companies too often but this month it was recent past winners that once again had the best ads in my opinion. Banner Solutions won my praise back in January and they get it again here.  Something about their color scheme and icon usage gets me every time.  Just a sharp and winning approach.  Kudos to the team at Banner for taking the top spot again!

 

--  The latest Supply Chain report from Gilbane was released this week.  Remember this is the report that comes out and covers all building products and how the cost, inventory, and delivery are proceeding.   Are things stable or not?  For most products the reports are delayed delivery, increasing prices, and contracting inventories.  Glass has been less volatile (believe it or not) in recent surveys but this one is starting to show the harsh reality we are all aware of.  Under inventories, it is showing “contracting” which is different from April’s report of Stabilizing.  Delivery is showing that we are stable- only one of four product categories in this “good” area, which goes to the amazing hustle and resilience of everyone in this industry to keep figuring out ways to get our product to the sites no matter what the obstacle.  We’ll see how this plays out but there is no doubt the overall supply chain is still a very messy place.   

 

--  Also on supply chain, the natural gas issues in Europe are something to be concerned with.  The top of this daily column from “The Scroll” made me queasy.  The experts do feel like the situation there will get better soon, but I can’t help to feel a bit uneasy.  Plus I am starting to fret that the US stock market is about to finally break.  Maybe I should take one of those off the grid weekends again soon eh?

 

--  Last this week… good article on being careful in reading your contracts, as more than ever, you can get burned badly in our current crazy world.   Our session at GEF covered some of this but this article makes a strong case and hopefully will get more folks paying attention to the fine print!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

 

The telephone “booth” is now antique art.  Wow. I am old.

 

Housing market is insane. This proves it

 

I have flown a ton and have never seen this.  Have seen it movies though…

PROJECT of the WEEK

 

From the feed of Paul Rowan on LinkedIn- this one is awesome at O’Hare Airport in Chicago.  Christopher Glass working with Innovation Glass LLC with what they are calling an adaptable glass wall system.  Nice work Paul and Christopher Glass!