Glazier's Speak Out: New Year's Resolutions

As the year draws to a close, it's the perfect time to review what you have accomplished in 2006 and lay out your goals for 2007. Each New Year gives us an opportunity to pause, reflect and resolve to do things better next year. Here's what a handful of glazing contractors are setting their sights on for 2007:

Andrew Mair, sales and marketing manager for Sinclair Glass based in Hartford City, Ind., says developing a new website for increased exposure and implementing a more efficient process for fusing glass are among the company's top goals for 2007.

"We are going to have more fun next year," says Jeff Price, general superintendent of Mountain Glass, a mid-size contract glazier in Clackamas, Ore. Price believes having fun is a vital ingredient in any business operation.

"Our hard work is supplemented by our attitude and enjoyment of our work no matter what the situation," he explains. "This helps make the good times better and the difficult times bearable."

"Our number one priority for 2007 is to better manage the volume of work we have and its related stresses," says Dan Pilcher, president of Advance Glass Service, a small contract glazier serving the greater Chicagoland area. "We are very busy, which is a good problem to have--except that it has impacted our ability to service our customers in a timely manner. So, better, faster service is what we have in store for the New Year."

Phyllis Tuller, co-owner and vice president of ASAP Glass Services in Arvada, Colo., says one of her goals for 2007 is to keep the momentum of growth in the company going strong. For ASAP Glass Services, a full service glass company that manufactures its own field units and specializes in high-end custom Euro shower doors, 2006 was a great year in terms of sales. As a matter of fact, sales have increased annually since they purchased the business in 2004.

"We are looking to increase sales again in 2007," Tuller notes.

Katie Nixon, accounting manager for Doc's Glass Service, a commercial glass and glazing contractor serving the greater Nashville, Tenn., area, says they plan to strive for increased sales and bigger profits for the business for 2007, too.

Scott and Kathy Utzinger, who own and operate Glass Concepts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, plan to keep growing their business in 2007. They also plan to diversify their operations into the commercial glazing and residential remodeling segments for a healthier market mix.

"We are going to strive to be the most reliable fabricator in the tri-state area and bring more products to the market [spandrel and insulating units]," says Zach Weiner, president of the Brooklyn, New York-based Colonial Glass Solutions.

"Survival," says Ed Hardy plain and simple. Hardy, owner of Fairfield Glass Service, a small contract glazier in Fairfield, Conn., points out that you don't get ahead in this business for more than 25 years without always working toward that goal.

What are your goals for the New Year? Let us know! Visit the USGNN message boards and tell us what you have in store for 2007.