Hope everyone had a good holiday week! New podcast for you covering two ends of the spectrum. I’ve got a company that is almost 100 years old, and another that is just getting going. It was very cool stuff. Kicking it off, I had Said Elieh and Peter Stattler of Bendheim. These two were very entertaining and informative, and I loved gaining insight into the iconic Bendheim brand and process, as well as what they’re seeing out there. Then I connected with the super sharp Ted Baumgardner of Guthrie Automation/Guthrie AI. Ted is in the lead position when it comes to integrating AI into our space, and I believe he has the background and drive to deliver. Neat to get to know him too. He’s just scratching the surface. Both interviews were a blast, and I continue to be honored to get people like this on the pod, as well as all of you checking it out! Thank you!!
AUDIO (or search “From the Fabricator” on your favorite podcast app- Apple, Spotify etc.))
Thank you to the fine folks at FHC-Frameless Hardware Company for sponsoring this episode.
Elsewhere….
-- Because of the holidays, there was no Glass Magazine Weekly last week- so those of you who read this over there missed my last post. You can find it HERE, and it covers a wide range of topics, including the latest indexes, people news, and the summer Q&A with Josh Burg of Glass Enterprises. (Who, as expected, was a tremendous interview).
-- Ok, here’s a question. Since everyone in the industry has a bird-friendly product, I should get some insight. This story of an eagle crashing through a window (carrying a rock fish) is a visual I can’t fathom. The question is… would our wide range of Bird Friendly options have stopped this? Would the eagle see it and veer off? I'm accustomed to smaller species of birds with the BF material, so I'm curious if it applies to an eagle. Here's the link: https://www.wrangellsentinel.com/story/2025/06/25/news/eagle-crashes-into-petersburg-home-carrying-a-rockfish-they-both-died/14732.html
-- Nice promotion this week- The whip-smart Mike Rubner assumed the role as President of Accura Systems. Awesome. Mike has always been a strong industry supporter and talent, and it's nice to see him continuing his success!
-- List time… the fastest growing jobs in the US & Canada. Some head scratchers and some obvious.
10- Security Guard
9- Sustainability Specialist – Wow, can you have a bigger difference between 9 and 10?
8- Outside Sales Rep
7- Director of Development – I am not sure exactly what this is- Biz Dev maybe? Surprising though.
6- Event Coordinator – I have tons of respect for those folks after years of GlassBuild’s and BEC’s- tough work- good to see it's gaining popularity
5- Travel Advisor- Huh? Seriously? Where?
4- Workforce Development Manager- Yeah, that should be among the tops- kinda crucial
3- Physical Therapist- I can see it, butI'm surprised
2- AI Consultant
And #1 AI Engineer…. So AI is surely on fire.. Glad I'm friends with AI experts like Ted Baumgardner.
Sadly, “Glazier” did not make the top 10. We need to make that happen!!
-- Now to the Summer Q&A Series… I caught up with Jeff Dalaba of NACC/AGMT and got updates on the crucial certification side. We talked BEFORE the news hit about the Oregon law mandating certifications.. so obviously that is huge and what Jeff and team are doing is as well. A must for our space.
MAX: Okay, Jeff Dalaba, it's been a while since we last spoke. I've had you on the podcast a couple of times, and I wanted to check in with you about a few things you've worked on and launched over the years. Let's start with the NACC. I love the program. I think the program is crucial for our industry. How's it going? What's the process like? People happy with it? How are you feeling about NACC?
JEFF: Really great. It's certainly been a process. As you know, it started out kind of slowly. We started this back in 2014, building it, but we've had great support from the industry in growing this. I think the biggest thing with NACC that we've seen over time is just general acceptance. In reality, what we're doing here is we're taking and trying to change the way that a lot of companies look at process control and look at quality management systems and the way that they install and the verifications of the way installations occur. Quality checks, in a nutshell. What we've worked with the industry to do is move from a point where the people are the process. In other words, you have good people, they do the right things, you count on them. To, we have qualified people, competent people, but we have defined processes as well. We have quality checks in place that are written. We have procedures that are written. We have standardized ways of doing things. And really what that does is it creates these consistent outcomes where you know what to expect. It's not just, Hey, everybody had a good day. So the project turned out well. It's everybody followed the way, the standardized way we do things, and it created consistent outcomes for us. And I think it's exciting to see the growth that the NACC contractors have had as well. And I certainly don't want to take credit for that, but I go and I see contractors that have been with us for a number of years and the way that they've [implemented] defined systems, it's been really rewarding to see how they grow as well, and how NACC is a part of it.
MAX: One of the things that I love about NACC is when you talk to somebody who's in the program, most of them will say, I thought that our company was in great shape. And then I went through the NACC process, and I learned so much, and we got better, and that blows me away. That's got to make you feel good because this is just not like a rubber stamp. I mean, companies are getting better thanks to this.
JEFF: Absolutely. I don't want to claim any credit for NACC. I've certainly worked in this aspect of the business for a while, but the reality is this was created by the industry. This was what contractors felt that they needed. In some cases, that they needed to be doing and weren't doing or already doing. And along with that, everything from fabricators and suppliers and manufacturers and stakeholders, curtain wall consultants, general contractors, architects, everybody in the same room saying, okay, what can we do to have better outcomes on glazing projects? Overall building enclosure. I mean, you're talking about panels, you're talking about a lot of different things beyond just glazing at this point, but what can you do to create better outcomes? And when the industry comes together and does things, there's a lot of bright minds out there. And I guess we've had the benefit of having those bright minds all contribute, and it's a way to benefit the contractors get involved in this.
MAX: Another good thing is AGMT, which is where NACC is for the company. AGMT is for the individual installer certification, and that seems to really have taken off. You've got to be thrilled with that process.
JEFF: I think from the very beginning when we had glaziers almost with a tear in their eye with pride of, we've just never been recognized as a professional trade before and having this certification that provides recognition. As you know, this isn't for new glaziers, this isn't a training program, it's a certification program. So, they generally have about five years under their belt and they're ready to work independently, not as a helper. They have an hours requirement, number of hours already worked and coming into this and testing their knowledge, skills, and ability. And a way that's, again, as I mentioned with NACC, this was designed by the industry as well. All the brightest minds came together and wrote the test and designed the test rigs, and we just carried that out and executed their plans. It is exciting to see how it's grown. We've just passed over 2000 glaziers just really since this rolled out at the very end of 2019. Then we had the pandemic years, which was a setback. So, to be at 2000 at this point, I think shows the need and the buy-in that overall, the glazing industry and construction industry has taken in this.
MAX: AGMT testing. It was a success last year at GlassBuild. It took place at TEXpo. You've got another one at Precision Glass in Houston, Texas this summer, as well as at FHC and then back to GlassBuild. So there's plenty of opportunities for people to go through this process.
JEFF: Absolutely. There've been public events, there's been events at training centers, there's been events at, as you mentioned, some of the expos and larger events, and it's been great to be on the test floor. GlassBuild was incredibly rewarding last year because we had people come up and as you know, we basically opened it up and we walked people through as they were testing, we had it cordoned off, so you couldn't get right up against the test or interfere with any of the testing. We wanted to make sure that the candidates had an impartial opportunity to be certified but bringing people through and just talking to them about the fine points of what was designed into that test. I had many times the response was like, geez, I didn't know it did that, or I didn't know it was this covered this broad of an area and it was so detailed and I didn't know you were measuring sealant and I didn't know you were doing this. And just one after the other. I had a couple of contractors that I ran into on the show floor, and I encouraged them to come over and they said, oh, no, no. We already know what that is. We know what that is and we don't need to see it. And then when we convinced them to come over, they walked through and afterwards they're like, I really had no idea. I mean, we need to get more people involved in this. And so, it is rewarding. I think it's been nice that NGA has given us opportunities and Key Media has given us that opportunity to be on show floors and really be out there in the public so that they can see what's really going on. Pull the curtain back, if you will.
MAX: So, if somebody wants to learn more about NACC or AGMT, the website is GlazingCertification.com
JEFF: We launched that website at the end of last year, and it has really become more robust building these programs. I will say early on that the websites, I shouldn't call them an afterthought, but we kind of cobbled them together to get them operational, and there was a lot of planning that went into this new design for the website to make it more robust. The neat thing is it's designed so that no matter who lands on that page, it quickly gets you to the right place. So, if it's an architect that wants to find out how to spec NACC or AGMT, it gets them to the right place. If they're a glazing contractor that wants to learn more about becoming certified or getting their people certified, it's easy to get to the right place, which we just didn't have before. It's also great because it's a way to publicly show who is certified. And so that's been beneficial. We want to promote those that are becoming certified and allow the industry to benefit from the work that they're putting in.
Thank you, Jeff!
LINKS of the WEEK
Between the holiday and the length of this post, no links this week- they’ll return next week!
PROJECT of the WEEK
I have had Erik Kern of Industrial Louvers in this space before, and he’s back again with another banger. This is the May Civic Center, and it is impressive. The work from Eric’s company was impressive, featuring custom solutions throughout. Plus, the curtain wall from EFCO is nothing to sneeze at either. GREAT WORK Erik and company, as well as East Moline Glass, on the installation. Well done!
