New Pod, Predictions Reviewed and More

The newest podcast in the From the Fabricator series is up and it’s a fun one that has some younger stars in our space. I kick it off with Sterling Guyette and Luke Jacques of Insulite Glass. They have done some amazing things with that fabricator, took excellent approaches and are really sharp and grounded guys. Then I get to visit with Stefanie Couch of Build Women and also the new Grit CRM. She spoke at GlassBuild and rocked it and she delivers again on my podcast. Good takes on her past, experience, moves now and into the future to make us all better. So really good stuff all around to kick off 2024.  

Watch on YouTube, or listen here, as well as on Spotify, Apple, Google or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thanks for checking it out!

Oh and speaking of checking it out, tons of you did so last year! Thank you. Thousands upon thousands of downloads and listens and up double digits in percentages from 2022 too. So I’ll take that!  

As for most listeners in cities/areas… 

1. Minneapolis: Last year #2 but I think having Garret Henson on this year moved the needle.  His podcast that featured him as well as Nicole Mann and the trio of Michael Spellman, Art Huard, and Charlie Boyer (another Minnesota guy) was my most listened to pod of 2023. 

2. LA: Last year #3 grew a bit and I appreciate my friends in So Cal.  

3. Houston: Last year #1 slipped a bit but I’ll never complain about anything in Texas except for the Austin airport.

4. New York: Not ranked last year and jumped into the top 5 this year.  Very cool.

5. Dallas:  Also not ranked in 2022, so very nice to see the home of so many great folks and friends of mine on the list.

Not in top 5 this year is Orlando and Charlotte… 

All in all that was a fun year on the pod. I have a ton lined up for this year. We’ll see if “Minnesota Nice” continues to lead or California dreamin’ can catch up.

Elsewhere…

2023's predictions

Traditionally on my second post of a new year I review my predictions from the previous year and note if I made the right call. I am usually good on a couple, off on a couple and then a toss-up or two. Let’s see how ’23’s prognostications turned out.

Imports are back: They did come back and the supply chain was more settled. So this one I’d take as a win though it was an easy call. 

Residential players to push into commercial: Count this as a wrong answer. There was a little push here but not the way I forecasted and without the depth too.  

VIG: Some may say I was wrong, but VIG made significant growth in ’23, new companies jumped into the fray and the education on it was at a high and constant level and I saw a lot more projects and specs calling for VIG. 

More consolidation: The buying continued but the consolidation I envisioned did not. May be a year too early here.

Unitized /Modular: Unitized stayed steady but I think I was too early on modular.

Bonus: The shows keep growing! Oh yeah! Incredible attendance at BEC, the Glass Conferences and GlassBuild, as well as a floor overflowing with oversized cowboy hats at TEXPO. Yes, a great year for the shows and so excited for this year!

So not bad overall, seems to always follow the same path. Next week, I’ll bring out the crystal ball for the industry predictions for 2024!

Personnel changes

Two massive moves involving great people and iconic organizations hit to start the year. First, Brin Glass announced a transition in leadership with Priscilla Koeckeritz taking over as President. Bill Sullivan will remain as CEO and Chairman but will pass the CEO role on to Priscilla in two years. Of course, this is some excellent planning from Bill, Priscilla and the team at Brin and I’d expect nothing less from a previous industry MVP! Bill is one of my all-time favorites and I look forward to getting to meet and know Priscilla.

Meanwhile at Virginia Glass Products and Virginia Mirror, John Korff has moved on to the Board of Directors clearing the way for Larry Lamb to take over as President and CEO. I have known John Korff for many years and he’s a great guy who did tremendous things in his leadership of Virginia. I am glad he’s staying involved. Meanwhile, same as my sentiments on Priscilla above, I look forward to getting to know Larry and wish best of luck here. Looks like both companies will continue to be in good hands going forward!

Great company news

Good news all around Bill Daubmann and the team My Shower Door/D3 in Florida. In just the first two weeks of the new year they had a nice piece published about them in a regional newspaper, appeared on a TV remodeling show, their NIL sponsored football player won a National Championship and Bill was inducted into a school Hall of Fame. A continuation of an incredible run by some great folks who not only do well for themselves and their employees but are huge supporters of our industry. Congrats to Bill and team on all the well-deserved props!

Data news

Quick dose of Architectural Billings Index news. Ugly. Again. So we are in the belly of the beast now for sure with another rough outing. This month it came in at 45.3 which was slightly better than last month but still not good. But there was one area that had some positivity and that was the fact that new inquiries bounced back and had its best outing since last May. So there’s that. We knew that this index was going to turn rough for a bit and its coming true, the thing now is how long will it last? The prediction was 8 months. By my estimate we’re halfway through it. So we’ll continue to monitor… 

Super Bowl Prediction

Super Bowl Prediction time. Each year I make a pick at the start of the year that usually turns out woefully wrong and then before the playoffs get rolling I pick again and in the last 2 years I have nailed it. Can I make it a 3-peat? At the start of the year, I picked KC over Minnesota for the title. The Vikes struggled because all the players were spending too much time listening to Garret Henson on my podcast, so they didn’t make the playoffs. I am not confident in my KC pick with the way they’ve been playing so I am going to take my mulligan here and make the call of Baltimore over Dallas in the Super Bowl. It’s the year of the Harbaugh!