Smart, Forecasts, Texas & More

I’ve got a new episode of the From the Fabricator podcast for everyone, and it’s got a bunch of strong takeaways. First up, the 2015 Glass Industry MVP Jon Kimberlain of Dow joins me. Jon is just a brilliant guy. Smart as heck, extremely friendly and always doing his best for his company and our industry. It was fun to pick his brain on a few items, including the growth of unitizing and the moves he’d make to improve the industry. 

Then we get the yearly visit from Nick St. Denis of KMR Research. We look back at the 2025 data, and Nick shares his insights on where the forecast is pointing in 2026. Nick is a good guy, and his appearance yearly on the pod always rates well. Good stuff all the way around! Give it a listen or view.  Thank you!

Watch on Youtube, or listen here, as well as wherever you get your podcasts.

I’ve pushed a few extra pods out to start the year. I’m going to be settling back into the once-a-month cadence for a while, so next edition will be March 22.

Elsewhere…

BEC next week

One week until BEC. I can not wait. So excited to see everyone and learn from the best of the best.

North Texas Glass Association event

Speaking of the best… this past week I had the extreme honor of speaking at the North Texas Glass Association Lunch 'n Learn. Wonderful people there. Thank you to James LaRocca of Gibraltar Glass, Valerie Nagy of Hartung Glass, and the rest of the NTGA board for having me in. Those two always keep me in mind, and I’m grateful. 

At the event, it was wonderful to see Kristina Buckett of Dallas Flat Glass, just flat out a cool person.  She had with her a true newbie to our space, Josh Prunty, he’s one week in, and I told him once you’re in the industry, you never leave. It was wonderful to see Jamie Kernohan, now of Glass Guru, thrilled that her talent has stayed in our space, and it was nice to meet her cohort, Steven Maya.  A trip to Dallas wouldn’t be the same without seeing the legend Sam Hill and the hardest-working man in the glass business, Chris Hill. Fantastic and classy folks, and congrats to them, too, as Oak Cliff celebrates a few milestones this year, including 70 years in business as Oak Cliff Mirror & Glass. Cool to meet Elizabeth Maynard of Gatsby Glass. I loved the enthusiasm she brought, and I’m excited to see how it all progresses for her. With Jeff Dowd in her corner, all is going to be great. Thanks to Dixie Still of CRL for connecting and dropping a LinkedIn post, awesome. 

Last but certainly not least, the Texstar Glazing crew of Danielle Whatley, Emma McLemore, and Oscar Lopez were in attendance, and I am just enjoying watching Danielle and this company continue to crush it out there. I know I missed a few people to mention, sorry on that, but know I am grateful for everyone’s time, and we’ll see you again down the line!

Latest ABI

The latest ABI came out and is still in the downer territory. Actually, such ugly numbers, let’s just skip it and move on. If only it were that easy! In any case, that “uncertainty” aspect is so strong everywhere and not letting up, and this is an example of something that is getting caught in the mess. I am very curious about what Sarah Martin from Dodge Construction tells us next week at BEC.

Glass in TV

Last this week… The TV show “The Pitt” is absolutely awesome.  So well done. There was a glass related story line, kind of, as a pair of roof jumpers fell through a skylight. The victim had major shards of glass sliced into him, and to me, that did not sit right. Maybe it was a very old skylight? Don’t know.  But it did catch my attention. Regardless, excellent TV for sure.