Mental Health and Well-being
Doing a deep dive on keeping employees safe and well
A milestone for the podcast as episode No. 50 is now out! For this episode, I wanted to do something special and different, so I went away from my typical industry product/service focus and concentrated on one set of guests and a crucial set of subjects. I was very fortunate to have Cal Beyer of the SAFE Project and David Argus of Karas and Karas Glass on to talk about mental health and safety, addiction, recovery, support, love, and doing the right thing by your fellow person.
If you heard either of them talk at GlassBuild or BEC, we covered some of that and dug deeper, too. It was a fascinating run through the area of worker well-being that so many don’t want to talk about but really need to understand. Cal brings the solutions, and David brings the real-life examples in our space. It truly was a memorable experience for me, and I think all of you who listen/watch will agree. Now is the time to step up. Thank you, Cal and Dave, and thank you all for checking this out.
AUDIO (Also search “From the Fabricator” in your favorite podcast outlet; Spotify, Apple, etc.)
Thank you also to this episode's sponsor, FHC Frameless Hardware Co. I truly appreciate that support!
Elsewhere…
Window + Door Top Manufacturers Report
The annual Top Manufacturers report is out from Window and Door Magazine, and while I know my audience here leans more commercial—the takeaways there really do vibe with what we see here. See quick takeaways from the report.
The biggest issue of those mentioned for me is labor. We have to keep being creative and vigilant in attracting and retaining our workforce and give them every avenue to be safe and successful. The podcast subject matter above for sure plays into it, but also improving areas of material handling throughout the process to prevent the preventable injury is so crucial.
While the money and product angles mentioned in the report will change and get better, we have to work a lot harder to make sure the labor scenario doesn’t get even worse.
Building grows 40% beyond pandemic
The latest Dodge Momentum Index is out and brought some positive news. The index did pop up 3% from April, and the analysts were pretty bullish about the trend line into 2025. Right now, we are 40% ahead of where we were pre-pandemic. It may not feel like it, but that’s what the numbers are showing. Probably the key is getting the delayed and on-hold projects unstuck, and off we go. Possibly? That’s at least an assumption. Regardless, I’ll take the dose of positivity and keep rolling forward.
Gauzy goes public
Back on the stock exchange beat. The latest glass-related company to go public is Gauzy. Trading under the symbol GAUZ, we’ll see if they have better luck than the last company to go this route. A big key that I hope they learn from that last company that failed on the public markets is not ignoring the support of the industry.
This means being active at shows and in associations. So far, they’ve been quiet about that since the emergence as a publicly traded company, but obviously, they’ve had a lot going on. Hopefully, though, they make that change, get into the NGA and Association world, and support the industry because our space tends to support companies and people who support us.
MAC Glass celebrates 6 years in business
Congrats to old pal Vincent Guerrero of MAC Glass. He noted on a LinkedIn post that the company just passed the 6-year mark in business. Happy for Vincent and the team there. Good to see. I have known Vincent for way too long, yet he looks exactly the same, and I look like I am 90. Something good must be in the water there… LOL.
IGE’s Jeff Spicer celebrates 19th year at the company
Last this week…since we are talking milestones, I saw Jeff Spicer from IGE Glass Technologies celebrated his 19th year there. Incredible and awesome—congrats to Jeff and IGE on that one. I do swear though every time Jeff sees me approaching at GlassBuild he looks at his watch and then looks to find anywhere to hide versus being stuck talking to me! LOL. Jeff and team there continue to rock on—happy for all!
