Building a New Normal

THE GLASS AND GLAZING AUTHORITY • GLASSMAGAZINE.COM MAY/JUNE 2020

TOP 50 GLAZIERS ADAPT TO A COVID-19 WORLD BUILDING MULTI- A FUNCTION, NEW FIRE-RATED GLASS BARRIERS NORMAL STOP VIRUS SPREAD

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GLASS.ORG TOP 50 GLAZIERS BUILDING DURING COVID-19

write this as I work from home, one of the many members of the I workforce who is doing so as office spaces are closed, and stay-at-home “I DON’T THINK orders are still in effect for most states WE’LL EVER GO as of late April. Construction field BACK TO WHAT work, which cannot be done remotely, WAS NORMAL has proceeded with safety measures BEFORE. I THINK in place in states that deemed it an IT WILL BE A essential service, though some states, NEW TYPE OF like New York, shut down all but the NORMAL.” most essential construction work as the coronavirus continued to spread. For those firms still operating, with reduced business or not, field work delayed projects, and seven percent has posed new challenges. “We do cancelled projects. daily cleaning of work stations, check Business closures have resulted in people’s temperatures―using an in- furloughs and layoffs across industries, frared thermal unit―promote frequent and historic levels of unemployment. This year’s Top 50 Glaziers cleansing and washing of the hands, March data from the Bureau of Labor survey, which opened in mid-March, cap- social distancing, and we have our Statistics shows that total nonfarm tured responses from an industry facing project management meetings outside,” payroll employment fell by 701,000 in unprecedented challenge and uncer- says Ray Crawford, president of Craw- March, and the unemployment rate tainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ford-Tracey Corp., a Top 50 Glazier. rose to 4.4 percent, the largest over-the- Results from the survey, collected over Many companies reported difficulty month unemployment increase since a month, show the cascading effects of acquiring PPE for workers to wear on 1975. Nonresidential building construc- the coronavirus on the glazing industry, the jobsite, which pushed glaziers to get tion lost 11,000 jobs in March. including increasing concern for worker creative. Giroux Glass leadership, for While lack of cash flow and worksite safety, cancelled and delayed projects example, created its own face shields for closures put pressure on many business- and supply chain disruptions. field staff, says Lomedico. es to furlough or lay off workers, Lomed- Despite the disruptions, and some- Though some construction has persist- ico recommends keeping workers if at all times because of them, companies ed, many companies have faced jobsite possible. “You should be trying your best have adapted and innovated, blazing closures. Data from the Associated Gen- to keep your talent, because the work will trails and moving forward into unchart- eral Contractors of America surveys in return,” she says. “It takes a long time to ed territory. “I don’t think we’ll ever go March and April paint a picture of rolling find the right people, and to have to lose back to what was normal before,” says closures as the pandemic spread. The them because of a short-term situation Nataline Lomedico, CEO and president, AGC survey, published April 3, compiling would be devastating. I would recom- Giroux Glass, a Top 50 Glazier. “I think responses from March 30-April 2, record- mend doing everything in your power to it will be a new type of normal.” ed that 53 percent of contractors reported find different ways to use your team.”

44 GLASSMAGAZINE.COM ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

ooking ahead to recovery, econo- U.S. Commercial Building Starts mists warn that the landscape has (in millions of square feet) changed, and that construction L 2019 recovery will take time. “I think the trend 832 toward having less work is going to contin- 2020 ue,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors, in an early April presentation. “I think that even if businesses start to reopen, if the ex- 703 treme orders to stay at home are lifted, just getting businesses up and running again will be [owners’] priority. And so many businesses are not going to have either the immediate cash, or the expectation that they will need a project that they have been contemplating.” Forecast data from Dodge Data & Analytics suggests that commercial construction starts will drop by 16 percent in 2020. “We are in recession, full-stop, no Source: Dodge Data & Analytics question about it,” says Richard Branch, chief economist for the organization. Branch projects a “short U” shape recession, meaning a more gradual recovery, U.S. Commercial Building Starts: by Segment 2019 rather than a quick rebound. 2020 Branch says that not every market segment will rebound in the same way, 400 or on the same timeline. He predicts that retail and hospitality will be the 300 hardest-hit sectors, with projected 2020 declines of 33 percent and 31 percent respectively. Meanwhile, health care 200 will be the strongest sector to recover. Branch forecasts a 5 percent rise in 100 2020. K-12 building will continue to ease, as will college and university building, the latter due to current 0 financial strain, he says. Warehouses Parking Office Retail Hotels and garages motels

MAY/JUNE 2020 45 TOP 50 GLAZIERS BEYOND THE PANDEMIC

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View a gallery of notable projects from Top 50 Glaziers at GlassMagazine.com.

t may be hard for companies to plan because we won’t know the impact of companies, on the development side, for the future when it is difficult to how it will trickle down to us through are working at a rapid pace to customize I predict labor and market realities a the different industries we work in,” she what we need. We’re all going to reap the week, let alone a month, in advance. says. “We’re taking a better look at the benefits of that,” she says. However, some in the industry feel that owners of the projects in our backlogs, Jeff Sample, director of strategic ac- the current situation is an opportunity and asking, ‘Will they still have the counts at eSub, a construction software for glaziers to pause, plan and prepare. funding? What is their financial strength? firm, also says this could be a “Big Bang” Here are a few potential ways that busi- What else are they investing in?’” moment for glazing firms to digitize. “I ness could change after COVID-19. think we won’t go back to business as DIGITIZATION usual across the board,” he says. “I think PREFABRICATION Another result of the pandemic may also it will fundamentally be the digitization The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the be increased use of technology and soft- moment, the adoption in usage of tech- potential use of prefabricated materials ware, both on and off the jobsite. Many nology and remote work ... We’ve just not and modular building. Sixty-four per- companies, across industries, have had had a reason to change the way we do cent of Top 50 Glaziers report fabricating to set up remote work situations, some things. And I feel like now we have one. curtain wall in-house. “Prefab could be for the first time and in short order. And it’s on us now, as an industry, if we a trend going forward―it’s a no-brainer “This could change [the use of] don’t embrace it.” with regards [to] the efficiency, and the technology; the face-to-face and social quality control,” says Crawford. Dodge aspect of [work] might lessen, and many INDUSTRY RANKING AND MARKET Data’s Commercial Construction Index of our people are now learning how REPORT for Q1 2020 reports that the top sector to work from home,” says Crawford. The following report includes a ranking for the use of prefabricated materials Crawford-Tracey already had a remote of the Top 50 glazing firms serving the is health care, which, given the like- desktop set up for workers before the North American market, organized by ly stability of the health care market COVID-19 pandemic, a system that al- 2019 gross sales information. For the segment, may further push adoption of lows employees to access files from their industry ranking, see pages 48-51. prefabrication. office workstations at home. The report also includes in-depth Lomedico also feels that this marks a market analysis of the state of the U.S. MARKET DIVERSITY turning point in the adoption of technol- glazing market, based on statistics sup- Given the likelihood that the profitability ogy. “We are all becoming accustomed plied by reporting companies. The report of some industries will change temporar- to ever-changing information, and when presents sales and growth information, ily, and possibly permanently, Lomedico this is over, we’ll be used to that,” she an early look at how COVID-19 might says that the company is reconsidering says. She characterizes this as an oppor- affect construction in 2020 and beyond, what kinds of market segments to seek tunity for glaziers to get the kind of sys- as well as product and technology trends. work in. “Some diversity is needed, tems that will work for them. “Software For market information, see pages 52-57.

46 GLASSMAGAZINE.COM TOP 50 GLAZIERS

$ Rank Previous Company U.S. Full-time Total Rank Locations Employees Employees

Over 01 Permasteelisa North America 5 - - $200 01 permasteelisagroup.com, Windsor, CT THEmillion LIST 02 Enclos Corp. 14 550 550 02 enclos.com, Eagan, MN

04 Harmon Inc. 18 598 599 03 harmoninc.com, Bloomington, MN

03 Benson Industries 6 725 725 04 bensonglobal.com, Portland, OR

$100-200 07 W&W Glass LLC 1 55 200 million 05 wwglass.com, Nanuet, NY

08 Walters & Wolf* 7 - - 06 waltersandwolf.com, Fremont, CA

06 Crown Corr Inc. 4 400 400 07 crowncorr.com, Gary, IN

12 Massey's Plate Glass & Aluminum Inc. 3 200 300 08 masseysglass.com, Branford, CT

11 Architectural Glass & Aluminum 3 350 350 09 aga-ca.com, Livermore, CA

48 GLASSMAGAZINE.COM The Top 50 Glaziers industry ranking, now in its 28th year, is the longest-running glass industry ranking. Companies on this list represent what editors believe to be the largest glazing firms serving the United States, ranked by gross sales volume. Sales volume information for 2019 was contributed by the companies. For those few companies that did not submit sales information, editors used independent sources to determine the most accurate ranking. If your company belongs on this list, or you want to update its information, contact Norah Dick, associate editor, at [email protected]. It is only with the cooperation of industry companies that we can provide the most accurate ranking possible.

Rank Previous Company U.S. Full-time Total Rank Previous Company U.S. Full-time Total $ Rank Locations Employees Employees Rank Locations Employees Employees

01 Permasteelisa North America 5 - - - Flynn Group of Companies 34 5,500 5,500 $100-200 THE01 permasteelisagroup.com, Windsor, CT LIST10 flynncompanies.com, Toronto, Canada million 02 Enclos Corp. 14 550 550 09 Binswanger Glass 61 869 892 02 enclos.com, Eagan, MN 11 binswangerglass.com, Memphis, TN

04 Harmon Inc. 18 598 599 - Yuanda USA Corp. 5 20 20 03 harmoninc.com, Bloomington, MN 12 yuandacn.com, Chicago

03 Benson Industries 6 725 725 10 Karas & Karas Glass Co.* 2 90 147 $50-100 04 bensonglobal.com, Portland, OR 13 karasglass.com, Boston million

07 W&W Glass LLC 1 55 200 14 Pioneer Cladding & Glazing Systems Inc. 6 302 302 05 wwglass.com, Nanuet, NY 14 pioneerglazing.com, Mason, OH

08 Walters & Wolf* 7 - - 32 Dynamic Glass LLC 3 280 280 06 waltersandwolf.com, Fremont, CA 15 dynamicglass.com, Houston

06 Crown Corr Inc. 4 400 400 16 TSI Corp. 1 200 200 07 crowncorr.com, Gary, IN 16 tsicorporations.com, Upper Marlboro, MD

12 Massey's Plate Glass & Aluminum Inc. 3 200 300 13 seele Inc. 1 14 21 08 masseysglass.com, Branford, CT 17 seele.com, New York

11 Architectural Glass & Aluminum 3 350 350 18 RynoClad Technologies Inc. 2 200 200 09 aga-ca.com, Livermore, CA 18/19 rynoclad.com, Ontario, CA

*annual sales volume is an estimate, not confirmed by the company. MAY/JUNE 2020 49 TOP 50 GLAZIERS

$ Rank Previous Company U.S. Full-time Total Rank locations Employees Employees

$50-100 15 Ventana Design-Build Systems 3 32 32 million 18/19 ventana.vc, Chicago

17 Architectural Wall Systems LLC 2 115 115 20 archwall.com, Des Moines, IA

20/21 Giroux Glass 5 223 227 21 girouxglass.com, Los Angeles

20/21 Above All Store Fronts 1 190 190 22 aboveallstorefronts.com, Hauppauge, NY

29/30 Cherry Hill Glass Co. 1 150 175 23 cherryhillglass.com, Branford, CT

$40-50 22 Admiral Glass Co. 2 172 172 million 24 admiralglass.net, Houston

33 Ajay Glass Co. 2 125 125 25 ajayglass.net, Canandaigua, NY

43 Tepcoglass LLC 3 155 210 26 tepcoglass.com, Dallas

41/42 SPS Corp. 2 88 95 27/28 spscorporation.com, Apex, NC

23/24 Haley-Greer Inc. 2 120 120 27/28 haleygreer.com, Dallas

41/42 Vision Enclosure Walls Inc. 1 15 100 29/30 vewus.com, Dallas

26 Ranger Specialized Glass Inc. 2 125 125 29/30 rangerglass.com, Houston

31 Alexander Metals Inc. 1 86 86 31 alexandermetalsinc.com, Nashville, TN

$30-40 25 Kensington Glass 3 196 197 million 32 kensingtonglass.com, Ijamsville, MD

34 Crawford-Tracey Corp. 2 131 131 33 crawfordtracey.com, Deerfield Beach, FL

47 Momentum Glass 2 138 138 34 momentum-glass.com, Spring, TX

50 GLASSMAGAZINE.COM Rank Previous Company U.S. Full-time Total $ Rank locations Employees Employees

ACE Glass 2 123 153 $30-40 35 aceglass.net, Little Rock, AR million

40 National Enclosure Co. 3 30 70 $20-30 36 nationalenclosure.com, Ypsilanti, MI million

Metropolitan Glass Inc. 1 85 85 37 metroglass.com, Denver

Denison Glass & Mirror Inc. 1 160 160 38 denisonglass.com, Denison, TX

48 Synergi LLC 2 61 70 39 synergillc.com, Elkridge, MD

38 Koch Corp. (Strong Tower Building 1 38 86 40 Envelopes) kochcorporation.com, Louisville, KY

Horizon Glass & Glazing Co. 1 119 120 41 horizonglass.net, Denver

44 Specified Systems Inc. 2 39 84 42 specifiedsystems.com, Canonsburg, PA

28 Egan Co./InterClad 4 75 75 43 eganco.com, Brooklyn Park, MN

49/50 AFI Glass & Architectural Metal Inc. 1 35 40 44 afiglass.com, Poughkeepsie, NY

Austin Glass & Mirror Inc. 1 77 79 $Under 20 45 austinglass.com, Austin, Texas million

45 R&R Window Contractors Inc. 1 75 76 46 rrwindow.com, Easthampton, MA

H.J. Martin and Son Inc. 2 930 (51 in 930 hjmartin.com, Green Bay, WI glass and 47 glazing division) Key Glass Inc. 1 54 54 48 keyglass.com, Bradenton, FL

U.S. Glass Inc. 1 48 48 49 usglassco.com, Sacramento, CA

46 Wind Ready 1 70 70 50 windready.com, Miami Gardens, FL

*annual sales volume is an estimate, not confirmed by the company. MAY/JUNE 2020 51 TOP 50 GLAZIERS

SALES AND MARKETS As of press time, the U.S. is experiencing a recession due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The severity and length of that recession, and the nature of economic recovery, remain to be seen. However, the 2020 Top 50 survey indicates that glazing firms entered the year with healthy backlogs and strong sales, building on a decade of market growth and advancement.

'09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14

52 GLASSMAGAZINE.COM How does your backlog compare How did profit margin in 2019 How did bid levels in 2019 to the previous year? A majority compare to the previous year? compare to the previous year? of Top 50 respondents, over 50 Twenty-five percent of companies Bid levels remained steady in percent, reported a higher backlog said profit margins increased in 2019, 2019, with a significant majority of in 2019 than the previous year. compared to 31 percent in 2018. respondents, 60 percent, saying About a third reported that their About 16 percent of respondents that they were about the same as backlog remained about the same as reported that margins decreased in the previous year. Thirty-seven the previous year. 2019, up slightly from 7 percent of percent reported higher bid levels, 2019 respondents. and only 2 percent lower.

27.9% Same 59.1% Same 60.5% Same Lower Lower Lower Higher Higher Higher SALES 18.6% 53.5%

15.9% 2.3% 37.2%

AND 25.0% MARKETS Total gross sales, 2009-2019 (in millions) Combined gross sales for Top 50 companies continued to grow in 2019, showing a 0.9 percent year-over-year increase. Post-recession Top 50 sales peaked in 2017, with combined sales of $4.3 billion, dipping in 2018 to $3.7 billion.

$4,500

$4,000

$3,500

$3,000

$2,500

$2,000

$1,500 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19

MAY/JUNE 2020 53 TOP 50 GLAZIERS

Construction Segment While market Commercial: Office buildings33% segments are likely to rearrange next year, given the disruption in commercial Commercial: Hotels 6% work and the commercial industries that glaziers work in, Top 50 Glaziers Commercial: Retail 7% showed continuity in the construction markets for 2019. Commercial TOTAL 46% Top 50 companies reported office building construction as the largest Institutional: Education 15% market segment in 2019, at 33 percent. Responses remained similar across Institutional: Health Care 15% the different market segments, with institutional work showing a small Institutional: Government 4% increase from 2018.

Institutional TOTAL 34% †High-rise apartments, condos *Includes sports facilities/stadiums, museums, convention centers, houses of worship Transportation 3%

Multifamily housing† 14%

Other* 2%

What percentage of your commercial business is new construction/ 86% renovation? The market breakdown between new construction and renovation also remained similar in 2019; Top 50 Glaziers reported that an 86 percent average of their projects were allocated to new construction in 14% 2019, up slightly from 83.5 percent the previous year.

New construction Renovation

54 GLASSMAGAZINE.COM TOP 50 GLAZIERS

PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGY

Top 50 companies continue to innovate and expand their fabrication and design capabilities. They are meeting demands for increased use of prefabricated systems, investing in new equipment and making strides to move toward 3D modeling.

Has your company made capital acquisitions in the past year? A strong majority of reporting companies Software made capital acquisitions in 2019 Fabrication 75% Handling Trucks in several key categories. Three equipment equipment 68% quarters of firms invested in software, 65% suggesting the significant spread of IT 63% infrastructure among companies. Half of Top 50 Glaziers reported using some kind of software, with Revit and Rhino, both 3D modeling software, topping the list. Software used also included those not specific to construction work, including Microsoft Suite and CRM, customer relationship management Other* software which helps companies track 15% interactions with customers. In addition to software, 68 percent of companies invested in trucks, 65 percent in fabrication equipment and 63 percent in handling equipment.

56 GLASSMAGAZINE.COM *includes aerial lift equipment, computer and IT equipment Is your company doing any 3D Yes 66% modeling/BIM? A significant majority, No 17% 66 percent, of Top 50 Glazier No, but planning to do so 17% respondents said that they do 3D modeling and/or building information modeling in-house, and another 17 percent say that they plan to do so in the future. Respondents said some of the major benefits provided by the systems were better coordination with other trades and improved accuracy, PRODUCTS especially for complex geometric designs. Challenges included the cost of the software and the need to train AND staff to use it. TECHNOLOGY

Are you fabricating unitized curtain Yes 64% wall in-house? A majority of Top 50 No 36% Glaziers, 64 percent, report that their companies are fabricating unitized curtain wall in-house. Prefabrication is not without its challenges; respondents said finding storage and space for units was a major challenge, as well as finding skilled workers to fabricate the systems.

MAY/JUNE 2020 57