There was a lot of news that came out of the NGA Glass Conference last week, but the biggest to me was the announcement of a huge members benefit: the members-only Codes & Standards Help Center. That is something we’ve needed in this industry for a long time. It is finally here and it’s exciting.
The National Glass Association held its winter NGA Glass Conference Feb. 9. At the top of the agenda for the virtual meeting: new energy and environmental codes and regulations that will impact the glass industry, driving product trends and asking more from companies.
The big news of the week was all surrounding what is going on with JE Berkowitz and the CGH brand. JEB has suspended operations and Columbia in Texas is closing, and that was tough news to take. Good companies that had some super people.
Recently AIA released their “Consensus” forecast update that takes eight different indexes and averages them out. The prediction for 2021, when all is said and done, is a 5.7 percent decrease in nonresidential spending in the new year.
While 2020 came to an end, the start of 2021 has not looked much different just yet―but I am remaining patient because, thanks to the breakthroughs happening worldwide in terms of vaccine distribution and therapeutics, the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel appears visible. This hopefully means that 2021 will be a better year for all, including the industry.
I am excited to announce a new addition to the “From the Fabricator” family. I have launched a new monthly podcast! Yes, as if once a week my writing was not enough, now once a month you can see/hear me talking up the industry.
Hot off the presses, it’s time to dive into my predictions for our industry in 2021. This should be a very interesting year (understatement alert) as we continue to hopefully move further and further away from the 2020 virus.