Top Glass Recap
Top Glass happened this past week, and it really was a tremendous event and opportunity to once again bring everyone back together in person. It was also good to get to Canada for the first time since 2019 and see and catch up with so many.
- Toronto is booming, and there’s a ton good happening there, though supply chain is even more challenged there and the vaccine mandate for truckers is still a big-time issue and a drag on productivity.
- As for the show, kudos to Patrick Flannery and team for a first-class event. What I enjoyed was seeing some of the latest and greatest products on display. Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope had VIG in their stand, while GlassCan was showing off the latest approach to bird-friendly glass and that had a constant line of people wanting to see and touch.
- I also loved what iMagic Glass had on display—obviously they have serious decorative chops and are moving into much more these days. Kudos to them.
- It was awesome to visit with Tom O’Day of NSG Pilkington, I have not seen him in forever and I got to see the legend Louis Moreau, who is now an independent consultant with his company Moglex. He is amazing for sure.
- Also, while there It was nice to meet two sharp young folks in Eldho Baby of C.R. Laurence and Val Voznyi of Salem Fabrication. Impressive potential there.
- Last it is always fun to visit with Jordan Richards and Rob Botman of Glassopolis. Great guys who always are supportive of our industry, and you know that is something I always love to point out.
All in all, a great show—now some of you will be at the Mid-Atlantic Glass Expo this coming week. I will not, unfortunately, make that one, but it should be excellent as well!
Elsewhere…
Latest From the Fabricator Podcast
Reminder on my latest podcast; this one is getting tons of reaction, and I am thrilled once again. Really lucky to have great guests every month and this was no exception. If you have not watched or listened yet, feel free to check out the video, or the audio only, or on any podcast platform. Thank you!
Quaker’s New Website, Products
Late to getting to these items but my goodness the team at Quaker have been absolutely on fire lately. An awesome new website launch, the smart move to join the NGA and a range of new BIM/3D models published, among other moves. Having quality folks like Josh Wignall does make a difference and the team there is rocking—congrats!
Sizzling ABI
The latest Architectural Billings Index has left me stunned. The latest report came in at a sizzling 58! That’s up from a 51 last month, and I had a feeling that the index would soon go under the 50 mark, meaning underwater. But nope, this month was huge. Interesting that the focus of this month was the push on retrofit and how popular it is. I had a question from one of the attendees at my presentation at Top Glass on that and I noted how bullish that market is in that space—and now the AIA is backing that up.
Only bad news from the index this time is the Northeast continues to put up soft numbers. That is surely a concern going forward as there are a lot of players in that area and if the work tails off like this index is predicting, things could turn ugly there.
Thank You to the Volunteers
This week just wrapped up “National Volunteer Week” and I just wanted to pass my kudos on to all of you who volunteer in our industry at the National Glass Association. The time and effort you put in is seriously meaningful and you are helping make this industry stronger. That is huge and appreciated.
In this day and age, where everyone is swamped and understaffed, taking the time to help make our world a better place (whether it’s in the industry or out) needs to be fully commended. Thank you to all that step up and do it!
Returning in 2 weeks
Last this week… no blog coming next week… I am taking the “blog” week off (not the work week, the consulting work always goes on) to see my daughter walk in an actual in-person college graduation! My son, like so many other kids, graduated virtually during the pandemic, so it is exciting to see this event return to in-person. So, unless crazy news breaks you won’t see me in this spot until the week of May 8 and in that post I do plan on dropping my next podcast too! Until then stay well everyone!
