promotions
Edgetech Announces Staff Changes
Edgetech IG Inc. in Cambridge, Ohio, recently announced the addition and promotion of several employees.

David Hill joined as a technical service representative. George White was promoted from his previous position as a Super Spacer TriSeal™ operator and safety committee member to engineering technician. 

Chris DuBeck has been promoted to production schedule/slitting cell coordinator.

Rob Miller has been promoted to new product manager for the company’s Form8tor vinyl bending system and EZ RAD muntin placement table.

Shawn Hannux joined as the regional sales manager for the Northeast United States, which includes the New England states as well as New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

Tony Palandrani has been added as regional sales manager trainee. 

AFG Fabrication Makes Organizational Changes 
Atlanta-based AFG Glass announced several management changes within the company’s fabrication division. 

Sam Bray, operations manager for AFG’s Reidsville, N.C., fabrication plant, retired March 31, 2007. Greg Frazier will replace Bray as the operations manager in Reidsville. Frazier previously served as operations manager at the company’s Albuquerque, N.M., fabrication plant as well as fabrication regional sales manager for the Western region. AFG also promoted Tony Torres to operations manager at the Albuquerque facility. Torres has been with AFG eight years in various roles including fabrication outside sales representative. 

Basco Names DeBruer Eastern Regional Sales Manager
Basco Shower Enclosures in Mason, Ohio, selected Jason DeBruer as Eastern regional sales manager. DeBruer will serve as liaison between Basco and its manufacturer representatives in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North and South Carolina and Florida. DeBruer joined Basco in 1998 as a customer service specialist and then served as a technical specialist from 1999 to 2004. Most recently he served as the company’s training specialist.

Moore Becomes Associate at HAI
Heitmann & Associates Inc. (HAI) in Chesterfield, Mo., promoted Jeffrey Moore, P.E., from project manager to associate. Moore’s responsibilities include managing specific projects and incorporating design consultation and development, engineering and structural analysis into projects. He is also involved in specification writing, laboratory and field testing, submittal preparation and evaluation. Other responsibilities include the inspection of new construction, analysis of existing buildings and development of remedial programs for curtainwall, windows, skylights and exterior wall cladding on buildings throughout the world.

Moore has held various positions with HAI since joining the firm in 1987. He received a bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech and is a registered professional engineer in Missouri, Virginia and New Jersey. 

new hires
Wagner Hires Murray for Industrial Sales
The Wagner Co. in Milwaukee, selected Don Murray as industrial sales engineer. Murray will be responsible for developing new industrial applications from existing customers and obtaining new customers and product lines for the company. 

Glaston Appoints New Managing Director For Bavelloni
Paolo Ceni has been appointed managing director of Bavelloni, a part of the Kyro Group, as of June 2007. Ceni, who has an engineering background, joins the Kyro Group from the Italian company CMS, where he has held a general manager position since 2001. Before this, he worked for ten years in consultancy with the management consulting company Galgano Group. Ceni replaces Kaj Appelberg who was Glaston’s head of global sales and former acting manager director of Bavelloni. 

“Paolo Ceni has excellent basis for developing Bavelloni’s business and profitability as well as finalizing the ongoing efficiency program,” says Mika Seitovirta, president and chief executive officer of Kyro. “Streamlining production and processes is also an important issue for Glaston, and Ceni has solid experience in this, too.” 

Ventre Added to Vitro’s Team
Jim Ventre of Vitro America has added Vitro Flat Glass products to his list of sales responsibilities. Ventre is also national sales manager for Binswanger Mirror and ACI’s MPact Safe Glass east of the Rocky Mountains.

Ventre, who began his career in 1983 at Floral Glass in Cheshire, Conn., succeeds the retiring Jim Charles in the position of flat glass sales representative. 

Ziegler to Lead Crystal Window Subsidiary
Thomas Ziegler has been selected general manager of Crystal Extrusion Systems (CES) in Flushing, N.Y., a subsidiary of Crystal Windows & Door Systems. Ziegler is responsible for sales and operations at CES’ 126,000-square-foot production facility in Union, Mo. He will apply his 20 years of industry expertise to expand CES’ aluminum extrusion capabilities, customer base and products. Ziegler was most recently operations manager for Alcoa’s extrusion manufacturing facility in Georgia.

associations
NFRC Announces Staffing Changes 
The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) announced two staffing changes. Jessica Ferris will oversee the component modeling approach (CMA) program as program manager. She will be responsible for all of the subcommittees and task groups in relation to the development of the program, and will play a key role in the development of the CMA certification document. Ferris previously served as the certification program manager for NFRC. Jacqueline McCracken, who joined NFRC’s team in June 2006, has been promoted to certification program manager. She will be responsible for all matters related to the certification program, including support of manufacturers using the product certification database and handling of all independent agency concerns and matters related to NFRC’s certification agency program. 

kudos
Bunch Receives Friends of Adam Smith Award
The Friends of Adam Smith, a not-for-profit organization founded on the economic theories and writings of Scottish philosopher and educator Adam Smith, has awarded PPG Industries chairman and chief executive officer Charles Bunch its 2007 Business Citizen medal honoring the spirit of free enterprise. The award was presented to Bunch on May 1 at the annual Friends of Adam Smith awards dinner at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. 

A Minute With...
Roger Skluzacek, Viracon

Before making his way into the glass industry, Roger Skluzacek, technical service manager for Viracon of Owatonna, Minn., served as an Air Force pilot. The skills he gleaned while serving as a pilot and Air Force officer contributed to the successful civilian career that followed. This month not only does he celebrate 24 years with Viracon, but he has also been named the new president of the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance (IGMA), a position he will hold for the next two years. Skluzacek recently talked to USGlass about his new role with IGMA and his work with the glass industry.

Q: How do you feel about being selected IGMA president?
A: I think it’s an honor to be considered for this kind of position, so I’m looking forward to it for the next couple of years.

Q: How do you plan to fulfill your role as president?
A: I think primarily our focus will continue to be on the research that we do on the longevity [of glass] and insulating glass units, on argon gas losses and on quality specifications for insulating glass, specifically. While there have been specifications for different types of glass, monolithic and laminated glass, there never has been one for insulating glasses.

Q: Do you think IGMA is representing companies, like yours, in the best way possible?
A: Yes. I think it is. It was time for the United States and Canada [to join], because we do so much both ways that it was something that needed to be done. I think that one of the things that separates IGMA from other organizations, is that in addition to the educational things that organizations do, we are also involved in the certification of insulating glass units. We’ve continued to establish a standard certification requirement for both the United States and Canada, which will be beneficial to companies in both countries. Our hope is to take that further internationally … so that it would be easier for manufacturers to be able to fabricate products that could be used in multiple countries.

Q: What led you to the glass industry?
A: My background is actually agricultural engineering. I worked for farm and industrial equipment manufacturers. In fact when I started at Viracon, I worked in engineering. Then I had the opportunity to enter the sales area, and that was somewhat reluctantly, I’d have to admit, because I watched my mentors stay so busy. But I would say this is very interesting work and I haven’t regretted the move at all.

Q: You spent some time in the Air Force. Did that experience prepare you for your professional career?
A: Some of those experiences [in the military] make some of the decisions you’re making here relatively easy. I think the management skills I learned as an officer came with me.

Q: What did you do in the Air Force?
A: I was a pilot. I flew the KC-130 tanker, as my last assignment, in the Strategic Air Command. I was stationed at Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana. Even though Viracon is an international company, I actually did more traveling with the Air Force. I got to see quite a bit of the world. I had some great opportunities to spend time in other countries. And ironically I do very little of that now … but that’s OK with me, because I do enough travel as it is.

Q: What types of developments or changes in the glass industry have impressed you?
A: I think the continued use of green buildings, the increased use of the low-emissivity coatings and the use of hurricane-type products [is impressive]. At about the time that I got into technical service, everyone thought just straight laminated glass would meet those [hurricane] requirements, but they didn’t. The combination and complexity of all of these products interests me.

Q: What is it that you enjoy about working in the glass industry?
A: I think it’s having the chance to meet your competitors and suppliers and other people in the industry. And it is certainly challenging … and always it’s interesting. I come to work everyday with an agenda and about half and hour into the day I’m heading in some other direction. One of the things about those of us in the glass industry is that you go out in these cities and you look at the various structures that have our glass around it … and that’s always a matter of pride to see that.

Q: Do you have any advice for young professionals entering the industry?
A: Apply your enthusiasm. There are a lot of opportunities and you can almost take on anything you want. Choose mentors that you can follow. I’ve been fortunate enough to have those, both as an engineer, and now in the sales area. So pick up on the things that have worked for other people. But try other things, too. Today the big buzzwords are “work outside the box” and “color outside the lines,” so take risks because you never know what will work.

USG
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