Sunday, April 18, 2021

Forecasts, Podcasts, and More

It is that time again, another new episode of the “From the Fabricator” podcast is out!  The 4th edition has a really interesting range of guests and insights.  Mary Avery of Tubelite is this awesome talent and it was very interesting finding out about her path to our world and she also shared two incredible projects.  Then Jim Stathopoulos of Ajay Glass joined me and his forecasting may scare some of you but it is certainly something to take into the planning stage.  That among many other items, including a great tribute to his legendary father were very cool to experience.  Then two younger guys in our world, James Wright and Jeremy Hoy of Virginia Glass Products and Virginia Mirror Company joined me to talk about their youth, their hair, their laminated, mirror and more.  Fun stuff!  That plus commentary off the top on the latest acquisitions and must-see documentaries mentioned at the end.  Thank you again for checking it out!  To watch this episode on YouTube, all you have to do is CLICK HERE and to listen only, go to Spotify, Apple, Google or wherever you listen to your podcasts and download from there.  

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  Last week’s lead story hit home for many of you as the labor need is really in a crisis mode.  And again, it’s not just in our segment or construction.  It is all over and it’s hitting the service industry hard.  This story from a town not too far from me really spells it out. Scary stuff.

 

--  Top Glass in Canada happens this week on Wednesday and has a strong and interesting lineup of speakers and subjects.  I always enjoy Mark Jacobson’s insights and he’s speaking so that makes it even more worthy.  Pat Flannery and team do such a nice job here- so check it out and register HERE.   I look forward to attending this one in person next year!  

 

--  The next release of the Architectural Billings Index also comes out Wednesday.  There is a ton of anticipation for this one given how great the last report was.  I’m going in with the attitude of hope for the best but expect the worst.  I don’t think there’s any way the March results will beat February, but once again I’ll be thrilled to be wrong.  No matter what I’ll have it here next week to comment on….

 

--  I have never heard the term the “Goldilocks” economy but evidently we may be in one?  Builder Magazine had a good rundown of what that is and why we possibly are in that mode.

 

--  A couple of congratulations to go out… first to Kevin Carter who just landed at AIG as a Regional Sales Lead.  Kevin is an old friend who got caught up in some of the CGH adventures.  Thrilled that he has landed with a good group and he’ll do nice work there.  In addition CONGRATS go out to my friend Lindsey Rowe Parker of Rowe Fenestration as her first book was published and released to the masses.  Lindsey wrote a very cool children’s book that will be a must have in the special education community called “Wiggles, Stomps, and Squeezes- Calm my Jitters Down” and it truly is awesome.  The help that this book will provide parents, teachers, and therapists will be off the charts.  Great work Lindsey- super proud of you!  Learn more and if you want to order this- here’s the site.  

 

--  This is a fascinating story of a historic home in Florida that was basically gutted by the owners without the proper permits, permissions etc.  I found the whole read and process to be very interesting along with the odd sense of deniability shown by the owners.  

 

--  Last this week… ICYMI the very talented Norah Dick of Glass Magazine had a great piece on Architecture after COVID.  This gave some good insight from some previous presentations and also via some strong industry experts.  Plus a good mention on Vacuum Insulating Glass that probably brought a huge smile to the face of Michael Spellman of VIG Technologies. 

 

LINKS of the WEEK

 

A baby gator in the house?  No thank you!

Speaking of Gators my pal AJ Carr had a shot of one on a jobsite this week… I think he’s training him to install!

 

Brutal story but a more common one these days- unable to move into a home that you just bought….


This an absolutely crazy story of an undiscovered room in an apartment a guy had been in for many years. 

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

I was honored to be invited to the annual Guardian Glass Commercial Glass Project Awards event this past week.  This normally happens at BEC and obviously was postponed and moved to an online event.  Great presentation.  Unreal projects here that really showed off how great our industry is and the work that we do.  There were many deserving winners (Props to all recognized- great companies!) but I grabbed one of the projects to make it my “project of the week” for this post.  I think this is the first time I have a Glass + Mirror Craft project get honored so kudos to Andy Russo and everyone involved there on this stunner.

Via Guardian Glass... The Details:

Hyatt Place Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Glazier: Precision Wall Systems, Inc

Fabricator: Glass + Mirror Craft

Architect: Ghafari Associates (previously known as Concept Design)

Products: Guardian SunGuard® SuperNeutral® 54 coating on CrystalBlue® glass and SunGuard® SuperNeutral® 68 coating on clear glass

Photo Credit: ThumbCoast Aerial

Congrats to all involved and thank you to the Guardian Glass team for the invite!



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