Top of the Tops

One of my favorite Glass Magazine issues yearly is the Top 50 Glazier edition. It’s always great to see the names of the major players in our space, but I always love the way the Glass Magazine team does deep dives into the market surrounding the players. Kudos to Norah Dick and team on that effort. In addition, this issue had info on building an internal training program, safety, and two good pieces on the growing world of security glazing. Super issue and worth checking out. You can see the articles and the whole edition online.

My ad of the month gets harder and harder to choose each month. You marketing folks are killing it! And because of that, I went with two winners this month, YKK AP and IUPAT. YKK AP, with the creative imaging being really effective. Sunny setting, and the project just pops off the screen. IUPAT went classic creative with “the missing piece,” and it really works. You stop and read all the puzzle pieces, and that’s what you want from an ad: people reading it all. Kudos to the folks who were behind this at YKK AP and IUPAT!

By the way… The “We are NGA” one was super cool, I shockingly don’t know who did that up inside NGA, but job well done! 

Elsewhere…

Industry retirement

I may have to create a weekly category like “This Week in Glass Industry Retirements” because, seemingly, I’m hearing someone new each week. But this past week, I was legit stunned (but very happy for) that Steve Cohen of Vitro announced his retirement. Steve is both a class act and an industry classic. Lived it, breathed it, supported it. I always enjoyed every interaction with him and loved seeing the difference he made at Schott and then at Vitro. Plus, Steve parlayed attending BEC one year to hanging out with Iron Mike Tyson after it. Pretty cool. Enjoy the next chapter of your life, Steve!

Documentary recommendation

At the end of each of my podcasts, I always talk about the latest in TV & Movies, and I mentioned on the last one the Billy Joel documentary on HBO Max. I bring it up here because that doc was fantastic. It was a bit on the longer side, but the genius of Billy Joel was shown, and I learned a ton. Interesting and tortured life, tons of ups and downs, and every single song sticks the landing.  And they stick in your head, for me, I keep hearing “Big Shot” and of course “Piano Man” – anyway, if you like music even a little bit, check this one out.

Recap of summer Q&A series

Summer Q&A… I thought this week would be a good time to have a recap of everyone I talked to, with links to their interview. Just in case you missed one or two!

• Ty Clem of Window Outfitters on the ongoing challenge of a workforce in the current times. 
• Josh Burg of Glass Enterprises on hot products and the supply chain.
• Jeff Dalaba of AMS (NACC/AGMT) with insights on the certification world.
• Art Huard of NVOY Fire Rated with a very sharp view from Canada on US relations & more.
• Kirk Johnson of Pulp Studio on the market and its challenges.
• Chris Shultz of Kawneer on new product and the emergence of AI.
• Brandon Bellegarde and Tyler Faulk of The Drafting Marketplace with updates and future teases.

Thanks for checking these out… a new Q&A will be up next week as we wrap up the summer series. Also, next week, a new podcast episode with two splendid and talented people!