Top 50 Glaziers 2023

Above: Mission Glass provided systems and services to a new high-end office building in Kirkland, Washington. The project represents the first large-scale mass timber office development east of greater Seattle, say the glaziers, and employed dowel laminated timber for the structural columns and floor decking. Photo by Mychal Bohart, CM Focus.

Top 50 Glaziers posted combined gross sales of $4.07 billion this year. While that impressive figure seems to suggest a return of some markets, glaziers say it does not mean a return of labor, or a good sense of the future of building, largely due to how material price inflation and interest rates have tempered investment.

“Many projects are shelved or progressing very slowly until there is a better understanding of where interest rates are heading,” says Thomas Cornellier, CEO, TSI Corp.

Interest rates compounded already-existing factors of getting material, in time, and keeping up with deadlines. “A big challenge in 2022 was the supply chain. Prices skyrocketed, lead times were the longest we’ve seen in a long time and construction didn’t slow down,” says Hemely Homez, project manager, Eastern Glass & Aluminum “It felt like it was us versus the world trying to get back on our feet.”

It goes without saying that labor, especially skilled labor, continues to be a significant challenge to growth. “Qualified and experienced glaziers are very hard to come by,” says Kevin T. Miner, vice president, Countryside Glass & Mirror.

The Top 50 Glaziers industry ranking is now in its 31st year. Companies are ranked according to gross sales in contract glazing for the North American market. If you think your company belongs on the list, please contact Norah Dick, senior editor, Glass Magazine. Beyond gross sales, Glass Magazine recognizes the excellent work of North American glaziers, nominated by their fabricator partners, who provided superior service in 2022.

2023 Top 50 Glaziers Report

The List

Glazier Partners

Sales + Growth

Labor + Headwinds

Markets + Services

More Top 50 Glaziers

The July print & digital edition of Glass Magazine contains additional information about companies on the Top Glaziers list and additional survey results.

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Additional Information for Purchase

Find the 2023 Top Glaziers List at the end of this online report. More details about companies, including the location of additional offices, number of full-time employees, total number of employees and contact information is also available for purchase & download at the NGA Store.

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Sales + Growth

61%
Higher gross sales

32%
Less competition for projects

36%
Lower bid levels

Sales—and struggles—on the rise

Sales were higher in 2022, according to Top 50 survey respondents. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they had higher gross sales last year, as opposed to 54% in last year’s survey. While respondents also report higher profits in 2022, fewer respondents said competition levels and bid levels had increased this last year. This may be due to the project delays or pauses that respondents also described.

“Many projects are shelved or progressing very slowly until there is a better understanding of where interest rates are heading,” says Thomas Cornellier, CEO, TSI Corp. “Right now, interest rates are creating issues in the banking community, which in turn is affecting financing. That ultimately can hurt the financial models for new builds, and since there is no rush, many developers are choosing to wait a year or so until they have a better understanding of the economic environment.”

Backlogs remain steady

1 month or less 3%

Between 1 month and 6 months 2%

7 months to 1 year 24%

1 year to 18 months 34%

18 months to 2 years 24%

2 years or more 13%

Regional Sales Growth

Southeast, West show growth

A plurality of last year’s survey respondents predicted the Southeast would see growth in 2022.

That region did see growth, but was surpassed by the Western market, according to respondents.

Nonetheless, responding glaziers again predict that the Southeast will see the most growth in the upcoming year. Several factors are affecting the expanding population in this region.

“This growth is due to a combination of great colleges and universities, great health care, and a large number of people migrating to this region for quality of life and cheaper standards of living,” says TSI Corp.’s Cornellier.

In the West, some respondents noted a rise in senior and low-income housing, and a strong health care market.

Labor + Headwinds

75%
Inflation will be a major headwind

62%
Recruitment is most difficult labor challenge

53%
Glaziers and field labor positions were difficult to fill

Headwinds

Respondents were asked to select all notable challenges anticipated for 2023.

Inflation 75%

Economic slowdown 56%

Labor shortage 51%

Interest rates 44%

Supply chain 42%

Lead times 29%

Scheduling 20%

Growth in pre-contract work 9%

Difficulty getting building materials 5%

More complex curtain wall designs 5%

First inflation, now rising interest rates

Inflation replaced supply chain challenges as the major anticipated headwind for glaziers in 2023. Demonstrating the dramatic changes in the broader economic landscape, last year only 17% of respondents said an economic slowdown would be a challenge; this year, 56% of respondents did. Some respondents directly linked interest rates to the potential for a slowing economy. “Interest rates … will stall the economy if they keep increasing. This is one of the main contributing factors in my opinion for an economic downturn,” says Michael Carew, North American sales director, Carey Glass.

“We previously saw projects go on hold due to rising costs and material shortages, and now those same projects are still sitting because of rising interest rates and the concern of an economic slowdown,” says Egan Co.’s Ryan Woodruff .

“Inflation continues to drive up the cost for our products and services,” says Dan Frey, founder and president, The Glass Guru. Continued inflation, as well as increased interest rates, are also simply decreasing the amount of investment in building, glaziers say. “Banks aren’t taking on as much risk, larger projects are harder to get off the ground,” says Cassie Harker, CEO and COO, Pacific Glazing Contractors “There’s also this belief that construction material costs will decrease, so owners are delaying future builds.”

Supply chain delays remain

While supply chain woes may have lessened somewhat, they remain a significant issue to navigate for several companies. “A big challenge in 2022 was the supply chain,” says Hemely Homez, project manager, Eastern Glass & Aluminum. “Prices skyrocketed, lead times were the longest we’ve seen in a long time and construction didn’t slow down.” Eastern Glass worked to include both contractors and vendors in conversations in order to mitigate these issues.

Markets + Services

Project type by market

Commercial

Office buildings 25%

Retail 9%

Hotels 5%

Institutional

Education 19%

Healthcare 15%

Government 4%

Other

Multifamily housing (high-rise apartments, condos) 4%

Transportation 3%

Residential (single-family homes) 3%

Other (market segments not covered above, e.g. entertainment centers, laboratory space) 3%

Commercial building remains uncertain

Institutional building saw an increase in 2022, according to Top 50 respondents. Commercial market growth remained relatively flat year over year, with office building construction falling by about 2 percentage points from the 2022 survey.

The future of the hybrid workplace remains a major reason for uncertainty about office building construction. “We’ve seen the commercial office building sector slow down, with more companies having remote or hybrid workers,” says Ryan Woodruff, vice president, Egan Co.

“We’ve seen a fairly large increase in the health care sector as both hospitals and clinics are updating or creating new facilities.”

The economic slowdown has seen many tech-industry projects go on hold or be withdrawn altogether, causing the market to shift to other sectors of the industry.

Glaziers invest in trucks, pre-fab

In terms of production capabilities, more glaziers, 54%, reported fabricating curtain wall in-house this year. However, storage space and supply chain remain obstacles to pre-fabrication, as does having adequate staff. “Labor is at an all-time low. Pre-fab is at an all-time high. The two don’t mix,” says Andrew C. Wright, vice president of operations, Glass Solutions Inc.
Similarly, many glaziers report increasing their logistical operations. Trucks became companies’ primary capital acquisition this last year, likely due to continued transportation issues and product transportation coming in-house. Fabrication equipment purchases remain a top capital acquisition as well, though slightly fewer glaziers report fabricating glass in-house this year.

Glaziers encounter more protective glazing

The survey also asked about product trends. Seventy-two percent of responding glaziers say they encountered projects with protective glazing in 2022, a four-point year-over-year increase. Bird-friendly glass also saw a spike of almost 10 points year-over-year. Jumbo glass showed another expansion; 59% said they worked on projects with jumbo glass in last year’s report, leaping to 72% for this year’s report.

The List

Celebrating 31 years this year, Glass Magazine’s Top 50 Glaziers List remains the longest-running glass industry ranking. Companies included on the List are asked to provide gross sales information, and are ranked by that number. For companies that do not provide gross sales information, their listing reflects research by editorial staff.

If you think your company should be a Top 50 Glazier, please reach out to Norah Dick, senior editor at Glass Magazine, at ndick@glass.org.

OVER $200 MILLION

The new student dorm for the University of South Carolina, "The Standard at Columbia," features systems from Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope and YKK AP America. Top 50 Glazier Eastern Glass Aluminum partnered with fabricator Clayco on the design, fabrication and installation of more than 1,000 openings.

$100-200 MILLION

$50-100 MILLION

$30-50 MILLION

sports arena with glass curtain wall — The stylish facade of the newly renovated Rupp Arena, home to Lexington's Kentucky Wildcats, features Top 50 Glazier Anderson Aluminum's unitized curtain wall, which was installed by the glazier as well. Viracon supplied fabricated glass. Photo by Tim Arvin.

$15-30 MILLION

*It has come to the attention of editorial staff that Carey Glass is a glass fabricator. What was listed represented our best understanding of the information available.

curtainwall with sunshades — Top 50 Glazier SPS Corp. installed curtain wall and vertical sunshades at 301 Hillsborough, a mixed-use building located in the downtown of Raleigh, North Carolina. Photo by SPS Corp.

The Partners

Leading glazier companies come in all sizes. Glass Magazine continues to recognize the many glaziers who make our built environment a reality, whether or not they are on the industry ranking according to sales volume. We once again asked 2023 Top Glass Fabricators to nominate notable glazier partners they had worked with during the past year. Here are some of the companies they wanted to recognize.

Lucent Glass Solutions, Marietta, Ga.

“[Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta] was and still is a very big project and we have supplied over 1,000 Vistamatic units for this project. Lucent have made us feel part of the project … and have soaked up the information we have passed on regarding installation, and the project has gone flawlessly.” – Privacy Glass Solutions

Royal Glass Co., Santa Clara, Calif.

“The level of professionalism and communication is unparalleled. Working with Royal Glass ensures that projects will go smoothly.” – Vitrum Glass Group

Honorable Mentions

8G Solutions | Riverside, MO
Nominated by Insulite Glass Co.

Alumax Shower Enclosures | Magnolia, AR
Nominated by Over the Mountain Glass

Andy’s Glass and Mirror | Cincinnati, OH
Nominated by Glenny Glass

BCI Construction USA | Belleville, IL
Nominated by Grupo Tecnovidrio

Blomberg Windows | Sacramento, CA
Nominated by AGNORA

Crystal Glass, Commercial Division | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Nominated by Can-Am Glass Products

Glass Masters | Ketchum, ID
Nominated by TBM Inc.

Karas and Karas Glass Co. | Boston
Nominated by Tecnoglass

Infinium Wall Systems | Strongsville, OH
Nominated by Consolidated Glass Corp.

MiTek/Benson Curtain Wall and Glass Divisions | Portland, OR
Nominated by Tvitec | Cricursa

My Shower Door | Fort Myers, FL
Nominated by D3 Glass

Modernfold | Greenfield, IN
Nominated by Custom Glass Products

Roberts Glass Service | Indianapolis, IN
Nominated by Basco Shower Door

Waltek Co. | Cincinnati, OH
Nominated by Standard Bent Glass

W&W Glass | Nanuet, NY
Nominated by sedak

More Top 50 Glaziers

The July print & digital edition of Glass Magazine contains additional information about companies on the Top Glaziers list and additional survey results.

Read/Download the Issue