The challenge of finding labor is now the biggest it has ever been, and is not getting easier. As the economy starts to come back and companies of all types are returning to “normal” business, there is a shortage of willing people to work.
A while back I wrote a post about the building industry’s million-dollar question: “How do you get spec’d by an architect?” But it’s not the only question driving specs, and it’s not the only one worth evaluating. Two equally important questions to add to the specification conversation are: What do owners want? And what do building codes require?
We heard the news of the assets from Columbia Commercial Building Products being divvyed up between two companies, with the window system going to Arcadia and the architectural aluminum to FHC. Nice moves for both of those companies, especially with regards to expanding their products lines. Again, with how crazy our world is, diversifying what you do is not a bad play right now.
The part of project consultations that I enjoy most is meeting people. I also love the challenge of seeing the project through their eyes, and then helping them to develop it. There is an opportunity to make their idea a reality, and as an innovator, that appeals to me.
It’s hard to believe that we are here… March 2021. A full year into the pandemic that changed the world in one way or another for all of us. It has been a year of ups and downs. One of resilience and silver linings.
The ABI came in at a stunning 53.3! The score of 50 is the break even and so this score not only shot past that but did so for the first time since this pandemic began. New project inquiries also went through the roof, posting a 61.2 and new contracts posted a nice 51.6. All in all, a super report.
One of the only things in 2020 that didn’t suck was BEC. Everything that has happened since has largely been outside our control; however, the NGA continues to do an amazing job anticipating, adapting, and leading the glass industry through the biggest crisis in our lifetimes.
In the FGIA Education Department, we talk about the labor shortage and continuing education all the time. But another integral facet of education that doesn’t always get as many headlines is the importance of leadership skills.
It has been on the radar for a while, and now it’s time to say it again. Everything is getting tighter. What I mean by that is there’s not many areas in the supply chain that are chock full of inventory.