The Glazing Executives Forum drew more than 220 attendees on Sept. 30 for discussion of artificial intelligence, risk forecasting, estimating best practices and more. The event also included a meeting for the NGA’s Installing Committee and the return of economic forecaster, Connor Lokar of ITR Economics.
Additionally, for the first time, the Glazing Executives Forum offered workshop tracks that allowed attendees to split into smaller groups to meet and converse directly with experts in the field about specific industry topics. Tracks included: AI at Your Glazing Company, Shower Enclosures Solutions Share, and Effective Recruitment Strategies.
The Glazing Executives Forum, now in its 18th year, is hosted by the National Glass Association and held in conjunction with GlassBuild America.
Highlights from the day-long event:
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Slowdown is coming for nonresidential construction.
Nonresidential construction is coming off a strong 2023 and 2024, but is heading for a slowdown in 2025, said Lokar during his economic forecast. “Most of you are busy. You are at the top of the business cycle. … We want you to make sure that we are observing an appropriate amount of caution,” Lokar said. “This is not the Great Recession. This is just a softening.” Lokar said the market should rebound and “ramp up” in 2026 and 2027.
Read more from the construction forecast.
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Higher inflation and interest rates are here to stay.
Per Lokar, the “pre-covid 2-percent inflation rates” will be a thing of the past. While inflation will come down for the next couple of quarters, he anticipates that they will increase again when the business cycle begins to pick up again. “We’re projecting inflation will be back at 3 to 5 percent as we move through the rest of the 2020s. … You need to make a plan in your business with how you’re going to deal with higher inflation and interest rates,” Lokar said.
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To help address labor challenges, meet potential workers where they are.
The industry continues to face ongoing labor problems, particularly recruiting and retaining new workers. Stefanie Couch, founder of Grit Blueprint, took the stage at the Glazing Executives Forum to discuss how companies can use social media and technology to reach the next generation of workers. “Gen Z has grown up with, and dearly loves, social media and technology. You have to find them where they are,” she said.
Additionally, Glazing Executives Forum attendees of the Effective Recruitment Strategies workshop discussed the importance of introducing young people to the industry at high school trade fairs. This year, the NGA launched a toolkit for recruiting young people to the glazing trade, including a resource, A Guide to Recruiting at High School Career Fairs.
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Retain workers through training.
The topic of the importance of training came up throughout the Forum, as it impacts every aspect of a glazing company. Training helps businesses keep workers, said Couch. “Ninety four percent of employees stay longer at companies that invest in their learning,” she said. It is part of risk management, said Matt Johnson, attorney, The Gary Law Group, during his session on Futurecasting. “Worker issues, training, onboarding, hiring, these are big risk components that require some evaluation,” said Johnson. And it is essential to building quality estimates, according to panelists during the Estimating Best Practices session.
During the event, Jenni Chase, NGA vice president of workforce development, addressed new efforts from the association to help companies train their workers. The NGA’s MyGlassClass.com online courses will be free to members when the online learning site relaunches in October, Chase said. “We want to make sure there are no financial barriers to education,” she said.
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NGA Installing Committee eyes Division 10
The Glazing Executives Forum kicked off with a meeting of the NGA’s Installing Committee, where Division 10 took center stage. Per glaziers in the audience, more Division 10 interior work with glass has been moving to furniture contractors or to carpenters, rather than glaziers.
“Our space in this market has started to shrink. We’d like to have an open discussion about this to understand the issue and to discuss how can we take this market back,” said Joey Aragon, NGA Installing Committee chair and director of operations at Aragon Construction Inc.
The Installing Committee aims to form a task group to address Division 10. “We do need your voice. If you’re able to have the great discussions, we’re able to know how to advocate for you,” said Urmilla Sowell, NGA’s vice president, advocacy and technical services. For more information and to get involved, contact Amber Johnson, NGA technical services and advocacy manager.