(This blog also gets posted on my LinkedIn account- let's connect there and you'll see it in your feed each week!)
We were all over the place this week on the economic front. The latest Construction Stress Index showed that delays and cancellations have lessened from the start of the year. So that is good. The bad is they are lessening from historic highs, and that index, even with a recent nice run, is still not where any of us want it and still off 26% from year over year. Ouch. This current trendline gives some hope, but the continued instability and visibility in the market is not easing, and until some of that gets settled, we’re still fighting a rocky battle. The latest Architectural Billings Index was released, and it was basically flat from last month, including the same level of inquiries, which remained positive. That is a plus based on what I talked about last week. However, construction starts have also reversed in the latest report released this week. Murky, messy, and surely frustrating, but as always, we carry on. I’ll say it- attending the Glazing Executives Forum to hear Connor Lokar of ITR and get his take is more crucial than ever. I can give you the basics, but we’re in a time where a major expert opinion and analysis are of the utmost importance.
Elsewhere…
-- In case you missed it… the latest From the Fabricator pod hit last week and had audiences really rolling. The authentic natures of Karolina Styk (Press Glass) and Corey Thompson (Pellucere) resonated well, and feedback was very positive across the board. Also, many people want to follow Karolina into the drone world too… so there’s that! Anyway, a fun one for you to check out if you have not already. Thank you!
AUDIO (Also you can search "From the Fabricator" on Apple, Spotify, etc. as well!)
Once again, this episode was sponsored by the team at FHC-Frameless Hardware Company. Thank you!
-- The great folks at Specified Systems in Pittsburgh, led by the extremely talented Emily Yukish, made a huge hire recently by adding Emily Losego to the ranks. Emily Losego joins as Director of Strategic Marketing and brings a highly successful track record to the table. This is another potent combo with Specified being on the move as always, and Emily Losego bringing an additional burst of skill to the team. Happy for everyone involved and love it when brilliant people team up in our space!
-- Recently, I caught two industry speakers who impressed me. I had seen Vaughn Schauss of Kuraray in tiny bites at BEC during “Take 5” segments, but had never seen him present full. I had never seen Steve Versland of Guardian Glass present at all. Both guys were fabulous, natural, and comfortable speakers. Both mixed personality with information and provided multiple resources along the way. Makes me feel good that people like this are out there representing us in the wild. Nice work, guys!
-- We’ve come to the end of the Summer Q&A series. Now that school is back in at most places and things are heating up more in the industry with the NGA Glass Conference and GlassBuild coming quickly, the news cycle should perk up. I end this segment with Matt Fox of the IUPAT. Matt is a Glazier Training Specialist, and his passion for growing the knowledge and skill base of our industry is top-notch. Very good person too! I wanted to catch up on a recent event he held, as well as the future of glazing education and support. Matt’s approach makes sense, and it was good to learn more.
MAX: You were heavily involved in a Raise Robotics training session recently. How did that come about? How did it go? How was it accepted?
MATT: So the way that it came about, Conley Oster, who is behind Raise Robotics, actually tracked us down at one of the GlassBuild events probably about two years ago, maybe even three years ago, and he said, “Hey, this is what I do. I have a machine that helps install the clips for Unitized Curtain wall. The way that it works is it keeps the glaziers safer because they're not hanging off the leading edge of the building installing the clips. Raise Robotics has a machine that will have two arms that could help place the clip, set the T anchor and torque it. I’d really like to work with the IUPAT Glaziers because it makes the most sense for us.” From there we had a couple conversations from that, and I learned that he was already doing this work. It wasn't something that was a pipe dream like, Hey, this is an idea that I would like to get off the ground. He (Conley) was actively doing it. He did a couple smaller projects and just last year he did a large project for Harmon in the Dallas area. We want to make sure that if it's going to be used, it's going to be used safely and efficiently as intended. And IUPAT has a good structure when it comes to delivering training to reach all the members, and that's through a Train the Trainer program. What that essentially does is we bring in instructors from around the country and Canada. They come in and they learn directly from the subject matter experts on how the technology or the tool or whatever the material is on how it's used properly. Then once they get deemed certified or deemed qualified to be able to teach that particular tool or system, they take it back and they teach it at their local apprenticeship or their local training center to teach and upskill the journey workers who are already doing something in the industry. So just for instance, a lot of times we'll hear things like, Hey, this is going to create a new job. Well, typically it's not a completely new job. It's really just an upskilling of a job. So, something like that would be an upskilling. We have craft workers who are in the glazing industry who are professionals at what they do, and now there's a new technology. We want to make sure that they understand that skillset. They already understand how to lay things out. They already understand the importance of setting clips the right way, but utilizing a new machine, they want to make sure that they're upskilled to where they can use the machine safely and efficiently. Like I said earlier, the machine's already being used, but it was really just the employees at Raise Robotics who were utilizing the machine on the construction sites. Once they continue ramping up and start to do more and more projects, they're not going to have enough of a workforce to be able to cover all the projects, but we have the network to be able to do that. If we’re going to be utilizing it, we want to make sure that we're going to be doing it the correct way. That's why we wanted to put that train the trainer on, and I thought it went really well. It ties into some other trainings that we already do. We already do some robotic total station training. And this machine utilizes that type of technology. So our instructors who already went through that course already had a leg up on some of that technology and are just converting it into another machine as well.
When you look at how much the technology has changed over the last 20 some years, we’re happy that our instructors and our workforce are always being exposed to it. We are always staying on top of these new technologies and after training our members, they are the most efficient and qualified to perform the work.
MAX: Speaking of new technologies, what does it look like for the workforce of the future?
MATT: It's interesting in the glazing industry, because we represent over 1400 glazing contractors, and they all have their own niches on what they do. We have contractors that perform the high-rise work. We have contractors who perform storefronts and smaller curtain walls, and we have contractors that are doing high-end stuff like the shower doors and glass handrails. The way that we structure our apprenticeship program, which then evolves into a continuing education piece, which we call journey worker upgrade training. We want to make sure that we have all the curriculum for a well-rounded glazier to where they could be successful on any project that they're going to be on site at. A lot of it comes down to really the basic fundamentals. Like I've always said, we want all of our glaziers who work for contractors who are doing larger projects or for contractors that do smaller jobs and the ones who do everything in between, to have the skills, knowledge and ability to be successful on any of those jobs.
And it's because of the training structure that the IUPAT Glaziers have. We have over 100 training centers throughout the US and Canada with full time professional instructors who happen to be Subject Matter Experts, because they came from the field in the glazing industry. And like I said, there's a foundation of skills that really will make you successful in the glazing industry. And we spend a lot of time on delivering those fundamentals. Things like the blueprint reading, understanding how the systems work, how sealants work the proper way, how to anchor into the different substrates no matter what project you're on, whether it is a high rise or the smaller work, you have to perform those tasks no matter what. We train our workers to have a very strong foundation of that skillset. And of course, someone who spends 15 years on a high rise is going to have the little secrets and all the experience level to be able to work things out probably a little bit better than someone who maybe only spent three months on it.
Same thing goes for someone who works in a small shop. They'll have all the tricks to be able to do something if they worked in a small shop for 15 years to where if someone from the high rise came and was only there for one month. But at the end of the day, we want to make sure that they have the fundamental skillset and then we specialize in all of the things that come out there. We have courses on unitized curtain wall. We have courses on the robotic total station training. We have courses on Procore and things like project management. We make sure that we cover everything with the foundation, basically being the main driver. And then there's other courses that kind of round out your skills, but that's all supplemented with the time that they spend on the job site.
MAX: You guys are on the front end of it all, which is sensational. And also positive is that to date in 2025, IUPAT has had a solid year. You've done a lot of essential things for the industry. How are you feeling about the year to date and going forward?
MATT: It’s very exciting because I love the way that the architects are designing buildings. You go to a new city, and you see all the glass and all the towers going up. It is very exciting for us. I feel like they're trying to really push the envelope, no pun intended, when it comes to designing some of this. And I know that our members thrive on working on some of these buildings. Same thing with our contractors, especially with social media. You see these projects and it's like, man, I really wish I could have worked on a job like that. Some of them are landmark projects. I know that we were talking about some projects yesterday like what Pioneer did in Pittsburgh (Presbyterian Hospital), and you see the pictures and you see the size of the glass. It's just really exciting. It's been busy for a long time and there's been a lot of projects that have been coming out, so it's a very exciting time to be a part of all that.
MAX: Thank you, Matt! Keep up the great work!
LINKS of the WEEK
Crazy danger- house with 20,000 rounds of ammo catches fire! https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/westmoreland-county-house-fire-ammo/
Unreal story on a bad neighbor in a very bizarre way. Rough. https://www.rockawaytimes.com/a-miracle-on-134th-street/
What a world we live in, 20 school buses robbed of their catalytic converters. No bus. No School. 20 robbed overnight! https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/08/19/district-cancels-classes-5th-day-school-after-all-its-buses-had-catalytic-converters-stolen/
PROJECT of the WEEK
Alexander Dominguez has been in the spotlight before, like being on the cover of Glass Magazine spotlight... (huge), so my calling out a project of his is small potatoes! Alexander and his company, SMART GLAZING, are on the move and doing top-quality work all over. This project is an in-progress look at one of them—a small taste. Alexander is rolling out there- and I am sure more to come! Keep it going!
