Surprising Stat

((Note- I am posting on LinkedIn as well- Follow me there to get these each Sunday))

I was pretty surprised this week when I came across this line in a story from The Wall Street Journal. “There were almost 500,000 more sellers than buyers in the U.S. housing market in April, according to Redfin.” Everything I see and hear is that places go up for sale, and they are snapped up immediately and usually for over asking.  (My niece sold her house in one day and for much more than the listed price) So seeing this didn’t compute with me. The story noted that interest rates are keeping people away, and this may not be the case where I live, as the story also pointed out that some markets in the Northeast and Midwest still favor sellers.  The takeaway is that it is interesting where perspective and reality meet.  Like seeing the stock market go crazy and thinking the economy (especially in our space) is going well.  Anyway, food for thought for this week- the whole article, if you are interested, is HERE.

Elsewhere… again quick hits with the Q&A at the bottom.

--  Mark your calendar for the latest NAGMA webinar, coming your way this week. It features Eric Zieger from Clear Motion Glass talking about Smart Glass Tech.  I am not super familiar with Eric and his group, so I’ll be checking it out.  It is free and happens on Wednesday, June 25th at 2PM EST.  To register, click HERE.

-- Good people end up at good companies.  The latest? Steven Acker has joined up at Harmon as Preconstruction Service Executive at Harmon Inc., located in the New York City office.  Great for both sides!! Congrats to all.

-- And a tough one for our space- the great Casey Anderson announced she was leaving ICD.  While I'm not sure where Casey goes next, I can say she made a significant impact in our industry, and it was a pleasure and honor to be in her orbit.  Best of luck, my friend, and hopefully you’ll stay in touch!

-- Did any of you follow the Karen Read trial/re-trial in Massachusetts?  It just concluded this past week and was one of the wildest, over-the-top sorts of adventures ever.  It was a case where you alternated between guilt and innocence, almost constantly.  It also had a community that was passionately divided too.  If you are unaware, start with watching a great doc on it, “A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read” on HBO Max, and go from there.  And if you're aware and have thoughts, please share - I'm always open to other insights!

-- Last this week… the summer Q&A series continues.  The feedback from last week was great, and I have now lined up a few weeks of interviews.  This will help pass the summer by with good content.  This time out… I check back in with recent podcast guest Ty Clem of Window Outfitters.  The current state of immigration in the US is something Ty is extremely passionate about. It hits close to home for him.  You may not agree with his opinion or approach, but he’s absolutely sincere and hopes for a more realistic plan out there.

Max: You are very deep into what’s happening on the immigration issue both personally and professionally- I know this is something that is huge in many ways. 

Ty: On the personal side, my grandma and grandpa were born in Mexico. My great-grandparents are from full blood Indians, and my great-grandmother was from Portugal. I know other people that work in the industry that have immigrant parents that came over here and have done all right. So being in the glass industry, the last 20 years, mostly 90% of the guys I've worked around are the Latino community. A lot of these guys have been here a long time. They work hard. They do it right. They're good people. I hang out with 'em. I go to dinner with 'em, my kids hang out with their kids. A bunch of these guys have worked for me for years and they have their work visas. The problem now is that they're telling 'em they're not going to renew the visas.   And I don't understand why. I get it, let's get the criminals and the drug dealers and the gang bangers and all those people out, but with this happening you are removing a great percentage of your workforce in construction. We're going to be in big trouble here.

Max: And on the subject of workforce in construction, we’re already seeing it.  This article from Construction Dive discusses the impact, and you have your own perspective. https://www.constructiondive.com/news/ice-raids-jobsites-impact-construction-workers/749786/

Ty: You’ve got people saying let’s get rid of all the immigrant workers, but I say who will do these jobs? Some say Americans will, but immigrants have always done these jobs. I don’t see kids out of high school lined up to go into concrete or Sheetrock. I don’t hear parents saying son or daughter you should look at being a glazier after you graduate for a great career or go into the highway department. I’m not saying Americans won’t do these jobs but now it’s like I’m almost wanting to say white people won’t do these jobs and mean Americans. That’s the big problem with how the government is approaching this issue with legal immigration. They are hunting people down based off the color of their skin. How else do you drive onto a job site or pull into a factory and say who’s American or not! That’s crazy. Yea I voted for a secure border but I also voted for less government control. 

Max: For those that aren’t in it day-to-day, like you, they don’t have any idea of the journey here.

Ty: Everyone says we need new legislation and our immigration laws are broken but you don’t hear any more than that. First, I don’t blame people for coming here to give their families the best opportunity. Did they break a law and cross our border, yes, but I would have done the same thing for my family if I had to. The past administration said doors open to the land of the free and opportunity, so like any smart person living in tyranny or under cartel rule or living in a country with terrible living conditions they did what I would think every dad and mom would do for their family. They risked it all to get here and lots of them died on the journey. “Americans “ say well they should have done it right! Do they even know what that means? Probably not. It’s actually a long process (5-1/2 years) and hard to accomplish but we all think yea I woulda done it right and don’t get me wrong lots of immigrants do, very commendable.  The whole world wants to come here so the process has probably gotten a lot harder and longer than we realize. Point is we don’t even want to go to the DMV, we don’t want to stand in line at Walmart , we get impatient waiting for our meal to come out but we think that we’d all go through the immigration process step by step like we’re supposed to . I highly doubt that. We can’t even get our kids off their phones to eat dinner. Well, I can at least say not my kids. They aren’t being raised like that. 

Max: Keep at it - your passion here is truly appreciated.

Ty: We all bleed and sweat together. We all (me and my crew) went to dinner last night. I'm going to stand by them. People may want to hate me for that. That's fine. But we're going to do the right thing.

Thank you, Ty, for fighting the good fight here.  One that surely will have an impact. Next week, catching up with a strong fabricator who’s made some big moves since we last talked.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- I’m a sucker for Dogs that do the job of a batboy in a baseball game. https://apnews.com/article/nationals-bat-dog-bruce-35e1dfb0993cdecbda8d6258021c7d7d

-- Great work from these guys at the Pittsburgh Airport- finding a lost diamond.  Tremendous. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2025/06/18/Pittsburgh-International-Airport-diamond-ring/5541750267020/

-- Dressing up as a bear to commit insurance fraud. Really?!?https://www.npr.org/2024/11/14/nx-s1-5191741/bear-costume-insurance-fraud

PROJECT of the WEEK

My guy, Dan Plotnick of Vitro, is a superstar, and I was thrilled when he submitted this amazing project because it hits a ton of things I like. Among them, I love the use of VIG, and, of course, I am a huge fan of Mike and Joyce Cully and the team at United Plate Glass. (Goal for me is to get Mike and Joyce on my podcast.) Plus, it is a stunner.  The job is the Pittsburgh Glass Center Expansion, and kudos to all involved.  Aside from the Vacumax (still love that name) VIG, there’s Solarban® 72 on Starphire as well.  Tremendous design from Indovina Associates and was installed by Southwest Aluminum & Glass Co., and as mentioned above, fabrication by United Plate Glass (UPG) in Butler, PA.  CONGRATS to all and thanks again, Dan for dropping this one in my lap.