In 1969 I started as a union apprentice in Orlando, Florida. Most of my early career was spent glazing at the new Disney World Theme Park. I became a foreman during my third year of apprenticeship. I joined Southern Window Erectors (SWE) as a glazing superintendent in 1975. I oversaw the glazing operations on a stadium (Tampa Bay) and other large commercial projects. When SWE went out of business in 1979, Harmon took over their outstanding projects and I was hired by Harmon to oversee the completion of those projects. I moved to Houston, Texas, in 1980 and immediately served as a Shelton W. Greer glazing foreman on several large scale commercial projects.
In 1985 Neal Ruffer, formerly a project manager at Shelton W. Greer, offered me a project manager/glazing superintendent position with Texas Curtainwall. At that point I dropped out of the glazing union. After three years I elected to open my own small glass company (Fuhr Glass and Mirror, Inc.). During the early stages of 1988 I became a single parent with primary custody of my three young daughters. Thus, I operated a new business while raising them. When my last daughter graduated from high school in 1998, I closed my business due to absolute fatigue.
A few months after a short lived retirement I was hired by Standard Glass Company to serve as the on-site project manager for the new Austin Bergstrom Airport project ($10,000,000+ glazing contract). Following the completion of that project I came back to Houston and managed the Minute Maid Baseball Park and Reliant Stadium Football Stadium glazing projects.
In 2005 I took the opportunity to join Permasteelisa in their Miami, Florida office. My initial role was as a project manager. Within the first year I became the Senior Project Manager. While managing my projects, I was also responsible for mentoring and the oversight of 5 to 7 other project managers. In 2008 I resigned from Permasteelisa due to an ongoing conflict with the Operations Manager, who had the support of the corporate management in Italy.
I joined Wiss, Janney, Elstner, Inc. (WJE) in 2008 as an Associate Principal and remained there until my retirement in 2023. I was one of three industry professionals within WJE's 600 plus employees. The remaining staff was comprised of engineers, architects, material scientists and administrative assistants. While I was with Standard Glass, I had worked on several projects that WJE served as the enclosure consultant. The relationships I built during one of those projects was the key to my success as a WJE Project Manager. FKP was the Architect and Hensel Phelps was the General Contractor on a large MD Anderson Ambulatory hospital project. As a result of my efforts on that project WJE hired me, FKP (now Cannon Design) and Hensel Phelps became two of my largest clients.
My responsibilities at WJE included Project Management, Business Development, Client Relationships, Mentoring, Technical Excellence and interfacing with all of the other 24 offices. My unique and unusual background allowed me to enhance and spread the glazing and building enclosure knowledge to the engineers and architects who had zero practical experience. This included, but was not limited to, plant and field inspection and testing procedures.
For my architectural and general contractor clients I provided design assistance and cost analysis, reviewed bid proposals and change order requests. I also prepared project specific specifications. To become qualified for this role, I took and passed the Construction Document Technician test. I also worked on numerous litigation cases, serving as an expert witness. Mostly, these cases involved construction defects, storm damage, and personal injuries related to glass or building enclosure issues.
While at WJE, I was elected to the inaugural North American Contractor Certification Board as Vice Chairman. I served in that capacity for 7 years. I also served as WJE's Houston Safety Liaison.
