The M&A news these past two weeks has been so thought-provoking that we must once again shine a light on it. In doing so, I think I know how Dwight Eisenhower felt when he shined one on the military-industrial complex. Everyone nodded their heads in knowing agreement, some even publicly said Ike had gotten it exactly right; and then everybody went back to doing things the same old way. First came the announcement that MiTek Industries had acquired Benson Industries LLC of Portland, OR. Anyone who has been around the industry for a while would surely categorize Benson as a solid contract glazier. Under the expert leadership of Lou Niles,… Read More »
We are into the dog days of summer in the East. I’m not sure why they are so named as I can assure you my dog doesn’t like them either. So what’s a girl to do but leave her panting puppy and head west to more temperate weather? Thus, I have spent the past few days basking in the downright cool climate of San Francisco. My sister and I told our nephew that we would take him anywhere in the continental United States he wanted to go if he made the ninth-grade honor roll. So when he proceeded to do so, we thought he’d choose Cooperstown; instead he chose San… Read More »
Okay, okay, it’s happened to you. I know it has. And you will soon nod with recognition because you know it too. It’s been a light week news-wise and I’ve been saving this YouTube clip for you for awhile now. You will clearly recognize the “sound of business” as you watch it tell me what you think. Happy viewing! How about you? Got any business pet peeves? I’d love to hear them. Let me know and have a good week. Regards, Deb
Just as every parent is sure their baby is the most beautiful in the world, most suppliers would say the products they debut are “new and revolutionary.” And just as beauty remains in the eye of the beholder, so, too, does uniqueness and originality. Some services and products (i.e. low-E glass) truly are revolutionary; others are variations on a theme or evolution of an existing product. New products–brand spanking new products–are a welcome rarity. One of the reasons that I look forward to the annual American Institute of Architects (AIA) Annual Convention is because it’s all there: the truly new products, the next-generation variations and the fine-tuned permutations all find… Read More »
I admire and appreciate glass on a daily basis. So it’s not often that I get a lump in my throat from anything our industry does. But this past week brought an exception to that. The glass industry gets an “A” from me this week; in fact, it gets threes As. It was a Triple A (AAA+) week for our industry. The occasion from my totally rational exuberance was in fact a cacophony of three As themselves: ASHRAE, architects and advancement. Let’s start with the last two. I spent half of last week in Denver at the annual convention of the American Institute of Architects Although the number of attendees… Read More »
Father’s Day is but six days away; the Stanley Cup finals start Wednesday night and this glass-related blog is due now, so it got me thinking about …. You guessed it … fathers in the glass industry who love hockey.My own Dad died three years ago and it’s still rare to go more than a few hours without thinking of him. Though he was not in the glass industry, he was by osmosis as he watched our magazines grow. So, in a nod to the late Art Buchwald (who re-ran his column about celebrating Thanksgiving in France every year on Thanksgiving) and, in honor of Father’s Day, I am… Read More »
The deadline for submitting comments about the proposed life-threatening Addendum ‘am’ to ASHRAE 189.1 is two weeks from today. Your help is needed. It won’t take more than 30 minutes and it could end a dangerous threat to your business. There are few actions you can take that are more important than filing comments against the onerous proposal that threatens reduce the amount of glass that can be used in a building by up to 25 percent. There has been a fair amount of commentary about the proposed Addendum over the past few weeks. It is significant to note that those in this industry of varied, diverse and vocal opinion-givers have… Read More »
Well, it isn’t often that I curl up for a night of TV watching, but I did so this past weekend because two different shows on two different channels featured people I know. The glass industry took center stage Friday night; it’s just a pity that both stories were stories about murder. The first was a Dateline NBC report about Amber and Josh Hiberling of Tulsa, Okla. Seems newlywed Ms. Himberling was seven months pregnant with her first child when she and her husband had an argument that somehow lead to her husband’s fall from the 25th floor of an apartment building there. She contends her innocence. The jury did not believe… Read More »
As expected, it’s happened and now that it has, you need to act. You need to act because it’s the right thing to do and besides, if you don’t, it will cost you money–not hypothetical, not theoretical but real and actual money. Please don’t avert your eyes because yes, I am talking to YOU. As anticipated, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has proposed an amendment to its BSR/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Addendum 189.1am-201x, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (addenda to ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2011) that, according to ASHRAE “tightens the prescriptive requirements for window-to-wall ratios from 40 percent for all buildings to… Read More »
Dear Scott, Loved, loved, loved your article “The Battle for the Wall” on page 36 in this month’s USGlass magazine. Heard your speech about same at the BEC Conference. And it seems our major nemesis—an enemy called ASHRAE—has set its weapons on glass again. I think you identified our biggest long-term problem spot on, as any insightful general should do. But hey, I am a good lieutenant in the war to save our industry, so I wrote a battle plan. Forgive me for being so forward, Scott, as I know you are the general and I a mere lieutenant in this war. But I thought about it and here are the… Read More »
