Moving On, Moving Forward

Not sure if you heard the news last week that the one and only Andrew Haring was leaving the NGA and returning to the for-profit world in an undisclosed position. There’s an “LOL” needed because you had to have heard…the news hit, and it spread pretty much like nothing I have seen. And for good reason. Andrew made a significant and incredible mark on our industry in a relatively short time. He threw himself into his role at NGA and went full speed at educating about the greatness of glass and glazing and all along the way built lifelong friendships. From that, I can easily say many, many, people would do anything for him. Me included. It was an absolute honor to work with Andrew, learn from him, watch him, and experience the awesome results. I love him and love what he has done for our space overall.

I have many favorite memories of the Andrew NGA years but the main one for me was in 2022, Germany, glasstec show. Where a gaggle of people walked up to our NGA booth. They saw Andrew there wearing the OG Glass Nerd hat and they had a meltdown of epic proportion. It was like watching video of kids excited to see the Beatles way back in the day, or Taylor Swift now. They were almost in full convulsions repeating over and over “Glass nerd. LinkedIn. Glass nerd.” Because as we came to find out, they spoke little to no English. But from his LinkedIn profile and the brand, he was known, and it was like meeting the ultimate superstar in the space. That was awesome.

Bottom lines…. He’ll be missed for sure at this level, and wherever he goes, he’ll bring the same fire and approach and that company will be incredibly fortunate. And NGA? It’s been here for 75+ years and the Haring effect absolutely helped it, and it will continue to roll on as the leading glass and fenestration trade group in North America. Plus, shows like GlassBuild and BEC will always be the staples where the industry with gather, grow, and learn. Good things ahead there and for all for sure. Thank you, Andrew, for all; you are a tremendous human and talent and I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Elsewhere…

Upcoming webinar

I am honored to be taking part in an upcoming webinar on April 29 from the team at Acelab. I have talked about them previously and have had their founder Vardhan Mehta on my podcast. Vardhan and his wildly talented team have built the ultimate architectural connection platform. A setup created by architects, Vardhan and many others on staff are registered architects, for architects. This platform is making a huge difference in being able to connect with designers and firms get your product details successfully in their hands and in their projects. So this webinar will have me doing a piece on our space including forecasts, product trends, education, and innovation and Vardhan and others will be talking about the art of getting in front of the decision makers and the overall specification process. More details on sign up coming soon!

One area I’ll be talking about are things like backlogs and indexes. We had good news in the latest backlog report from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). The backlog report is 8.2 months (decent) and the bigger news was their Construction Confidence Index came in with a score of 61.9! (50 is the threshold) That number even seemingly surprised the experts involved in calculating it, see this quote:

“Given headwinds such as high borrowing costs, emerging supply chain issues, project financing challenges and labor shortages, the persistent optimism among nonresidential construction contractors is astonishing,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Last month, contractors reported rising backlog and greater conviction regarding likely growth in sales, employment and profit margins.

So there ya go folks…kinda cool to see. Now will it continue? Next index report is the Architectural Billings Index this coming Wednesday. Last month it was ticking upwards. Do the gains stay? From the data I am seeing, I think it may retract some. But given what the ABC report just showed, anything is possible. We’ll keep on it….

Industry promotion

Good news for a good guy/family. Thomas Lee IV has been elevated to President of Lee & Cates Glass. Tom Lee III will continue to be active in the company but in a more strategic advisory fashion as Chairman of the Board. Thomas will now take on decision-making and strategic direction for the company. Tom and Thomas have been unabashed supporters of our industry for a long time, and this is a great move to keep their momentum rolling. Congrats to Thomas and Tom on the move and best to them and every at L&C going forward!

Running for a cause

An impressive feat from one our own this past week.  Erin Spellman of IGE Glass Technologies ran the Boston Marathon and absolutely crushed it out there in some wicked hot conditions. Way to go Erin!  I run a ton but 26.2 miles at a time? Nope. No way. That is awesome stuff and the best part? Erin ran to raise money for charity. The cause she repped was the Pediatric Oncology Research and Treatment group at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital. Erin’s efforts brought in almost 13k! Love it. Very very cool!  

Good read on skilled trades

The Wall Street Journal recently had an article on skilled trades and the impact that “Gen Z” is making on it. I know I have been banging the drum a ton lately on workforce development, but it is a big need and top priority. Good read on it. 

Hurricane season

Last this week… the experts are predicting an above average hurricane season ahead. The obvious hope is whatever major hurricanes develop that they stay out into the ocean and just mix the fish and don’t hit land. Our industry has been a major leader in the hurricane resistance space and it’s something to be proud of, but I’d still prefer to see a very quiet season ahead.