New Pod: Codes, Hustle, & More

A new episode of the “From the Fabricator” podcast is now up!  This time out was a very cool mix with the guests, and it had tons of helpful notes.  I lead off with Tom Culp, consultant extraordinaire and one of the key cogs of the NGA Technical Superhero team (led by the incredible Urmilla Sowell, and featuring a crew of folks who care deeply for the good of our industry: Thom Zaremba, Nick Resatar, Karen Wegert, Georgia Oehler, and Amber Johnson).  Tom covered a ton of the technical ground and also broke some great news on daylighting for our industry.  In addition, Tom covered what’s next and how we as an industry- with great volunteers too- are working through it. Next up was the fabulous Jamie Kernohan of Glass Guru.  Jamie is a pros pro when it comes to the marketing game and has done a great job in our industry, and now is making a difference within the walls of a pretty massive organization at Glass Guru.  Jamie shared some great angles she has in play now, what’s happening in her world, and the importance of not being in a “square on the screen.”  Loved it.  Both guests brought it, and I’m excited to share!  Thanks for checking it out!

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Thank you to FHC- Frameless Hardware Company for the continued backing of the podcast! Much appreciated!

Also, Jamie noted a cool resource- “Superhuman”- during our talk, and I said I’d drop the link here.  It is a short daily newsletter focused on the AI space, featuring news, tips, etc.  I just signed up and assume I’ll see a story about Ted Baumgardner any day now.  Site is: https://www.superhuman.ai/

Elsewhere… 

-- Huge industry news with the return of Casey Anderson to our world.  She’s now back at it with the fine people at Garibaldi Glass.  I was so happy to see this. Casey has done so many good things in our space, and she cares a ton.  Matching her with the Mobius family and the other talents at Garibaldi is an excellent connection. Congrats to all!

-- Another new website rebuild dropped.  This one is from Pilkington, and it is strong! The great Dr. Kayla Natividad put a note up on it, and I knew right away that this was going to be excellent, and I was not disappointed.  Really smooth layout and one of the best uses of color and icons I have ever seen.  Creative without being too busy or overboard.  Massive kudos to the team at Pilks who worked on this one!  Really impressive.

-- The latest Dodge Momentum index showed some life yet again.  So there is a flickering light out there… though if I turn on the news, everything will change 15 times before I can flip the channel.  Anyway, May’s Dodge Momentum Index rose nearly 6%, with healthcare, retail, and office planning also gaining ground alongside continued data center activity. Office planning gaining ground?  Yeah, let’s go.

-- Last this week… Adaptive Reuse- I have been banging this drum for a while, and I was thrilled when I ran into this great website from Jason Miller.  It’s called Repurposed and Redeveloped Commercial Real Estate and showcases a wide range of projects that feature the full adaptive-reuse angle.  My current favorite is this one that shows how former banks (TONs out there) are being reset and reused. Check out the full site HERE and the bank example HERE.

LINKS of the WEEK

Wild story on stolen crypto and just a mess of the world out there overall.  The amount of money is astounding. https://sfstandard.com/2026/05/27/east-bay-teen-laundered-millions-private-jets-nightclubs-ferraris/

You’ve got to read the stats behind the Crumbl Cookie Sodas. Like 186 grams of sugar in a 32-ounce portion.  Wowza. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/astounding-amount-sugar-crumbls-dirty-144754767.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Elvis for a new generation. https://apnews.com/article/elvis-youth-tribute-competition-tupelo-festival-063ce85ac0cabcc40fed26e6bb7479dc

PROJECT of the WEEK

From the feed of the incredible Tammy Schroeder at Apogee Architectural (so EFCO, Tubelite, Lintec, etc.) This is Pine Rest Pediatric Center of Behavioral Health in Michigan.  Beautiful job, and the intercompany collaboration was on fire here.  This project brought multiple strengths across the portfolio into one cohesive solution, featuring Tubelite curtain wall systems, Wausau behavioral care windows, and Linetec finishing.  Tremendous work by all, and day by day, I’m seeing and hearing great things about what my friend Troy Johnson is getting done over there.  It surely helps when you’ve got Tammy crushing it too.  More info on this job, and it’s a cool one, HERE.

Are We Good or Not?

“Construction shows signs of life beyond data centers”- This is the headline that caught my eye and got me excited.  Then I saw the subheadline. “Despite hopeful signs, rising fuel prices will take a toll on material costs in the second half of the year, according to construction data provider Gordian.” And just like that, I was deflated. Then the rollercoaster of emotions continued when I started reading the article HERE.  It struck a more positive tone throughout, which was nice to see.  I think we all know the situation we are in (frustratingly soft) and really don’t need to be told, but getting some reinforcement on the plus side never hurts. And if indeed the metrics showing the crucial segments we care about are moderating- sign me up for more of that!  Guess only time will tell- and in the meantime I need to up my game with catchy headlines…

Elsewhere….

--  A few of you are headed to the AIA show this coming week in San Diego.  Tremendous town to visit (hoping for you all, no June gloom) and experience.  Have fun!  Especially because if you are going to exhibit, you’re probably going to have a tough show.  Those of you who have shown there in the past know exactly what I’m talking about.  And those going for the first time will experience the pure frustration that comes with the event.  Who knows, maybe this year is the year architects won’t be distracted, and they’ll come to the floor and spend time with the exhibitors.  Also, maybe this is the year I get my big break and star in the next Denzel Washington movie. LOL.  Anyway, it’s just so tough when you want to spread the good word, and no one is there to hear it.   (By the way, I wrote and rewrote this a bunch of times to go softer on the whole deal.  Trying to be nicer in my old age…)

-- Staying on the west coast- Kudos to the team at Glasswerks on the launch of their new website.  Looks good!  Special mention to whoever was project-managing the site and had to create the project pages.  They are super, and there’s so much there.  That HAD to be a bear to develop.  So that person deserves a pat on the back for sure.

-- Want to see some serious glass getting set?  Check out this post from the great Kevin Hardman (Hardman Glazing Management).  He usually can’t share all the brilliant work he does- so when the time happens, it usually does not disappoint, and this one did not.

-- I wrote a few weeks ago about the new Jack Ryan movie on Amazon Prime and how the previews showed a broken glass floor and some BR glass.  I finally watched it, and as a movie, it follows the classic spy-adventure formula, so that works for me.  As for the glass- a star of the show, of course.  Many of the fight scenes were set in a partially completed building, and it looked like several unitized components were in the background ready for install.  The floor scene with the breakage was interesting, but I am not a glass-floor expert, so I’d love my guy, Ian Patlin of Phoenix Architectural, to weigh in. Or someone like Tom Donovan of Thompson Innovative Glass, who lives and breathes laminated glass. The BR looked great and performed as expected.  Go Glass Industry Go.  And anyone else who watches or has watched, feel free to weigh in!

-- Last this week… Quick one- speaking of movies- the new Nate Bargatze film, “The Breadwinner,” is super.  Funny and just an enjoyable ride. I am biased as I love Nate’s comedy- and if you do as well, you need to see this one.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- I don’t really understand the “influencer” model.  And I surely don’t understand how taking pictures with cute cows works.  But now farmers want to breed ugly cows to scare off the influencers.  Bizarre. https://nypost.com/2026/04/21/lifestyle/farmer-plans-to-breed-ugly-cows-to-stop-influencers-from-harassing-them/

-- I am so pumped for the World Cup, and if the US does well, I think this country will melt.  Also, it would be a nice wedding present for a US player who got married in the thick of all of this. https://apnews.com/article/brenden-aaronson-wedding-world-cup-e7ff08e340613b6a8b73e8cbb928d99d

-- Also, World Cup?  A great oral history of the 1994 US World Cup team that basically saved soccer in the US.  https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/48893158/how-usmnt-went-italia-90-embarrassment-world-cup-force-1994

 PROJECT of the WEEK

W+W Glass is on that Mt Rushmore of great glass companies, and so this week it’s fun to shine the spotlight on them.  Instead of me putting words to it- here’s what they had on the LinkedIn post.

Check out our latest INSIGHT structural glass enclosure we engineered and supplied up in Boston in partnership with our supplier TriPyramid Structures and erector JK Glass Co. Love to see those thin steel plate beams inside. This happens to be the third structural glass bridge enclosure we have done in Boston (Boston Children’s Hospital Bridge and Liberty Mutual Bridge were completed some years back). We can’t wait to see this one wrap up soon.

Nice work by the Haber family and the talents at W+W.  Keep up the great work!

Glazing & Hurricane Season

June 1st marks the start of Hurricane season, and each year, we get predictions from experts about what may happen.  Before I get to that, I do need to point out that Hurricane Protective Glazing was a huge win and move for our industry.  It is now what school security will eventually be.  A must-use product to keep people safe while also allowing them to live a normalized life. (Example- natural light still can come through vs. schools being built like a cave.) So, when we take heat from other trades (which we do, constantly), it is nice to point out wins like this.  Kudos to folks like Leon Silverstein and many others in South Florida who led the charge on the hurricane side that we can all point to proudly today.  So, for the predictions, the main one is 1 to 3 Major Hurricanes to happen in 2026.  The obvious hope is that they are hurricanes out to sea, and the only damage is to all the fish that will get caught up in the mix.

Elsewhere…

-- ICYMI- the latest From the Fabricator podcast dropped last week, and I’ve loved the feedback that I have received.  I had a feeling people would appreciate the authenticity of Randy Brooks and Jared Ruggieri, and that came true.  Those guys also dropped some really solid actionable points, too- for which I and the audience appreciate!  So thank you to them! 

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Thank you to FHC-Frameless Hardware Company for the support of this episode!

And next up, as some of you may have seen the wild AI graphic on LinkedIn- I’ll have the extremely talented Jamie Kernohan of Glass Guru on, along with one of the most important people in our world, Tom Culp. Without him and the other NGA tech Superheroes, we are working in windowless huts. That one will be out June 14th!

-- Fifty years in this industry is a huge accomplishment.  There are a few people still in that class in our world, and on June 1st, a new member will be added.  The one and only Ralph Aknin of Glass 3 Enterprises hits the half-century mark, and he’s still laser-focused on the business; his love for our industry has not waned a bit. Ralph has always been ahead of the curve product-wise, and I am not sure anyone is better at tracking down a source.   Ralph has always been incredibly kind to me, and he’s been a class act through and through.  So congrats, Ralph, on hitting 50, and thank you for all you have done to make our industry better!

-- List time!  Been a while since I had one- and you know I love these.  Via my good friend Joe Staffileno… here are the Top 10 cities where people want to retire...

10- Boise, ID – The Idaho talk just continues to grow out there. The hype is real. 

9- San Diego, CA- Shouldn’t this be higher? 

8- Tampa, FL- Makes sense

7- Asheville, NC – Oh my.  The home of Big Bill from Asheville, Billy Britt, makes the list. And who wouldn’t want to live near the awesome folks of Britt-Tilson Glass?

6- Charleston, SC- Home of the best media agency in North America-  CBK. Worth a move there just for that. 

5- Orlando, FL – There surely is a lot to do when people come to visit. Though if the Space Counts as Orlando, then count me in over there.

4- Nashville, TN – OK, I can see many areas in Tennessee… but Nashville exactly? Great place to visit.  Maybe the similarities to Orlando work here.

3- Naples, FL – Stunning, but I think this is out of my pay grade.

2- Scottsdale, AZ – See Naples. 

And #1 on the list- Sarasota, FL.  So Florida dominates the list, and it's interesting that nothing in the southern part of the state, specifically good ole Boca.   Sarasota is a great choice for #1.

Surprises to me?  Nothing in Texas or Georgia.  Also, if Idaho is on the list, no Montana? And for Joe, who sent the list- No Morgantown, WV??? Come on! 

-- Recently, I had the good fortune to visit the team at AMS-Administrative Management Systems, Inc., the group behind the inspection and 3rd-party certification processes for many organizations, including SGCC and IGCC.  Now, those who know me know I appreciate and respect the certification process, so seeing how things come together was a thrill for me.  And knowing that there’s really no equal to the certification you get from SGCC or IGCC, I could tell why that was the case.  Tremendous people and organization.  Thanks to John Kent, Terry Schaefer, Kristin Best, and Kelly Jenness, among others, for their time and incredible hospitality.  Keep up the great work, folks!

LINKS of the WEEK

I think you’re going to see more like this one- generating power in space. https://spacedaily.com/sd-n-a-a-florida-startup-just-raised-65-million-to-beam-concentrated-sunlight-at-satellites-and-the-customer-list-shows-how-fast-orbital-power-is-becoming-a-real-market/

3D Printing with glass. Some interesting angles in this one https://www.tomshardware.com/3d-printing/innovative-startup-pioneers-3d-printing-with-recycled-glass-new-binder-jet-process-combines-powder-with-adhesive-agent-in-layering-technique

Solar panel glass has a spontaneous breakage problem.  So much upside down in this one. https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/05/21/solar-industry-cost-cutting-sparks-record-wave-of-spontaneous-glass-breakage/

 PROJECT of the WEEK

This week, the spotlight is on a very cool couple who, with their team, are making some nice waves in our space.  This is a Cheesecake Factory in Cypress, TX, glazed by the fine folks at Stratford Glass. They had a scope as big as the menu there…. including exterior storefront, entrance doors, and interior glass systems. Kudos to Larissa & Julio Vasquez on a job well done.  Keep up the good work!