Andrew Glauser: Pay Attention, Take Notes, and Take Over
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Intro:
In today’s episode, we sit down with Andrew Glauser, a veteran elevator mechanic, adjuster, NEIEP instructor, QEI, and Foreman who’s been keeping people moving safely for over two decades. From working on the new Buffalo Bills stadium to training the next generation of technicians, Andrew brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to our conversation.
Summary:
Andrew Glauser discusses his career in the elevator industry, starting with a family friend’s influence and his own recruitment in 2004. He highlights his role in the Buffalo Bills stadium project and the pride he feels in his work. Andrew emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, mentorship, and safety. He notes the industry’s growth, particularly in residential elevators, and the challenges of finding inspectors. Andrew also mentions the benefits of vocational training and the opportunities available, including the potential for veterans to leverage their GI Bill for education. He advises newcomers to ask questions, be eager, and prioritize safety.
Transcript:
Andrew Glauser 0:00
Yeah. I mean, for me, it really doesn’t matter who you’re working with or where you are, you’re always going to be able to learn something from, you know, the best mechanic or the best team on the planet, or they could be, you know, an average guy, or they don’t want to do the extra stuff, ask the right questions, ask the wrong questions, right? Just ask questions. Be a sponge. All right, that’s what I tell my students. It doesn’t really matter what you’re doing, who you’re with. If you don’t understand, ask if somebody is spending the extra time to actually teach you. Pay attention. Write notes, because if I’m doing door work for three four days, I’m hoping that you, by day three or day four are going to be able to want one to jump in there and, you know, actually take over for me. I always like to say I as a mechanic now I’m probably the best apprentice you would ever have, right? Like, I love being able to have somebody else do the work and me, you know, for one, showing them what we did. Two, having them go in there and do that and then say, Hey, I don’t even need you go do another task right now. I got this under control.
Matthew Allred 1:08
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Matthew Allred 1:50
In today’s episode, we sit down with Andrew Glauser, a veteran elevator mechanic, adjuster, NEIEP instructor, QEI, and Foreman who’s been keeping people moving safely for over two decades. From working on the new Buffalo Bills stadium to training the next generation of technicians, Andrew brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to our conversation.
Matthew Allred 2:33
Andrew, welcome to the show.
Andrew Glauser 2:35
Thank you. Appreciate you giving me an invitation.
Matthew Allred 2:39
Yeah, I know I’m excited. It’s good to talk to you and meet you in person. I know we’ve talked a few times over the years, and, you know, always tried to drag you out of your hometown, but I think you’re pretty happy there in Buffalo, right?
Andrew Glauser 2:52
Yeah, I’m enjoying it right now. Actually, the foreman running the new Buffalo Bills stadium going on here, nice, almost 40 pieces of equipment been going for about a year now, and we got about another 18 months to go. So I will be going nowhere anytime soon.
Matthew Allred 3:10
Awesome. That sounds like a fun project. I mean, that’s one you can you can enjoy with your family. You can point out as you, as you pass it, you know, and just know that, hey, that’s, that’s something that I got to put my stamp on.
Andrew Glauser 3:22
Yeah, I think everybody, I mean, I can remember probably the first elevator I worked on, you know, over 20 years ago. I’m still driving by it and being proud of a, you know, a little four stop hydro. And now I’m working on, you know, the biggest project ever in our area. So it is pretty cool.
Matthew Allred 3:37
It is that’s awesome. And your kids probably get sick of hearing it, right? Oh, yeah, whatever. Dad, right? Yeah.
Andrew Glauser 3:42
They like it. Their school is actually right across the street. So the best part about it is, when we have, you know, Monday or Thursday night games, they get a half day school, so they benefit just as much as us.
Matthew Allred 3:54
Absolutely. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. So, so how did you get involved with the elevator industry to, you know, from the get go?
Andrew Glauser 4:01
Yeah, so we had a family friend who got into the 90s, worked for Otis. Long time. He was a mechanical engineer, went to school for it, and had a family member offer him a job. He’d been doing it for about 10-15, years. Tried getting my older brother into it. I was home on spring break from college, and they say, Hey, you want to go take a test? And I was like, Yeah, sure. I take a test all the time at school. I might as well. And was the first recruitment for New York State back in 2003 and 2004 when the Labor Department made the local unions go out and recruit outside of the way they did it before, which is family, word of mouth and all that. And went through that process started in March of that year, 2004 and got a call in December on my winter break home in between semesters started December 20 and never looked back. 21 years.
Matthew Allred 4:59
Never looked back. Never thought about, man, I wish I’d stayed in college
Andrew Glauser 5:03
Well I’ll tell you a story. I did go back to college. I stayed I went to community college at night while I was going to classes with NEIEP, and I finished my degree back in 2010
Matthew Allred 5:14
Awesome. Good for you.
Andrew Glauser 5:15
I do have my degree in construction management, hoping to use it one day, whether it’s in the elevator industry or not, but I do have it there in my hat.
Matthew Allred 5:25
Oh, it’s nice. Is that what you were studying then? Was construction management?
Andrew Glauser 5:33
I did, yeah, I started with construction management, and then worked on major. I was working on a major in architecture, and it just got to be too much. So I did a minor in architecture, and I have a BS in construction management.
Matthew Allred 5:41
Nice, nice. So started in the industry, and you say you never look back. What? What was it that kind of clicked for you, and you, you were like, Man, this is this is good. This is where I need to be.
Andrew Glauser 5:51
Yeah. I mean, I think I was probably lucky. I worked at an independent where you really got to do a little bit everything. So it was a small, family owned company, 20 employees, 25 employees. They did a lot of state work, university stuff, lot of specification work. So you knew what the client, the customer had bought. So you could go back and read through it, and you know, they had new buttons, new cabs. And we did it from it wasn’t just the piecemealed modernization. These were literally tearing Jacks out from the beginning. Oh, wow, getting dirty, replacing machines. And I think it was the start at the independent because we did everything. It wasn’t just new construction or escalator work. We actually got to touch a little bit everything we maintained, all the manufacturers equipment. And honestly, I had a really good group of mentors that were around me who were never afraid to show me, you know how they did it. Or even if you make a mistake, you can still learn something from that mistake. And that was their train of thoughts.
Matthew Allred 6:59
If you’re not learning that’s that’s the problem, right?
Andrew Glauser 7:03
If you’re not asking questions, and you know, you’re not spending a little bit of time outside of work, even when you’re not getting paid for it. This business is humbling every day. Still, you know, 20 some years in, and as a student coming out of college, I think I was a little bit more eager, wanted to learn more, but I had a good, really good group of core guys around me that really helped me learn, and allowed me to learn and make those mistakes that made me, I think, a better apprentice and a better mechanic.
Matthew Allred 7:33
Yeah, yeah. So even then it was, it was about the group of people. It was, it was about the the culture of the camaraderie. Is that really what?
Andrew Glauser 7:43
Yeah, I mean, there’s only, I’d say probably, with 30,000 you know, to 35,000 active Elevator Constructors, you know, mechanics across, you know, the US right now, small that group, but I would guarantee you most people in our area at least know an elevator guy somehow, whether they know him from the golf course or they know him from school or a family friend or, you know. So, yeah, I mean to be in the upper echelon of construction, which I think everybody says, you know about the elevator trade. All the other trades stay the same, you know. How did you get in? Who did you know this and that? And I’m like, Well, you have the same opportunities we have, you know? And when we recruit, look in the newspaper, look at Department of Labor, talk to everybody, and that’s the important part. Is you don’t have to know somebody to get in. You just need to know where to find the opportunity.
Matthew Allred 8:37
For sure, yeah, and yeah, I mean, sometimes I think it can be a matter of who you know or be in the right place the right time. But I’m seeing a lot of, you know, just opportunities that seem to go, I don’t know, unfilled. You mean, you and I talked a little bit about inspectors, for example. And I, you know, in New York and Colorado and, you know, just seems like country wide. It’s like, where are all the inspectors? How do I how do we fill those roles? It? I don’t know. Maybe, maybe aliens are abducting them or something.
Andrew Glauser 9:10
Yeah, I mean, I think you have to be eager to do it. I mean, when I went back to school in 2010 to finish my degree, before I did that, I didn’t know if I’d be able to actually work in the business. So I went and got my inspector’s license. So I still carry QEI. I’ve had it now for 15 years. Didn’t know if I would use it then. I certainly use it, you know, not in a day to day way, but I use it as, you know, research. And guys call and ask, Hey, what do you think about this? What do you think about that? It’s a very different trade than it was, I think when I got in 20 some years ago. You know, it was your, your next step was you retired, you became an inspector, and then you inspected for 10 years. And they love seeing the same guys they worked with every day. And I think it’s, I think it’s a little bit different now. I think the travel is there. I also think there’s some things with liability. You know, at this point, with New York State has licensing now, and there’s been a couple of high profile incidents and injuries, where guys talk about it now, and you are now putting your name and your neck on the line every day, whether you’re doing inspections or you’re doing maintenance or service, you know. I mean, I, I’ve been subpoenaed a couple times, you know, just for calls. Somebody got hit with a door, somebody fell in an elevator, you know. So I think it’s just the the world we live in today, you know?
Matthew Allred 10:36
Sure, so. So I think what I’m hearing you say is, if you, if you got your name on that little placard that’s inside the cab, and something happens, you could be held liable for what’s going on.
Andrew Glauser 10:47
Yeah. And you know, whether you’re right or wrong, it doesn’t really matter. It’s the building owner that’s brought in, it’s the elevator company that’s brought in, the inspector, the mechanic, all of it. They’re just looking for somebody to have missed a step, right? And is that the way to go about things? No, but if you’re in a car accident, right? They’re going to do the exact same thing and bring everybody into it. So, you know, in the the old days, it was the guy I worked with yesterday was retiring, going on a vacation, and then six months later, you’d see him knocking, you know, calling you and saying, Hey, we need to go over and do a pressure test. You know, at the same point, we’ve seen some guys who have had injuries. I had a guy on my crew who had back surgery wasn’t able to come back in the field. He went and got his inspector’s license, and he’s loving it now. He still can be out, be around the guys, you know, and he’s not away from the trade. So there’s opportunities, some guys like, you know, hitting the office and going to become a superintendent once they get out of the field, you know, or time gets slow. That’s what it was back in 2009,2008 when the downturn happens. I know New York City, a lot of our guys went and got their QEIs in time. We didn’t know how bad it was going to get, for sure. We didn’t know we’re going to work. We know we’re going to do but we all kind of had a backup plan. And at the same time, then you were getting calls, if you had a QEI, you were getting calls, you know, monthly. Hey, are you willing to go here? Do you want to travel? You know? So there’s a lot of opportunity out there if you’re really willing to listen, and then, you know, and take it
Matthew Allred 12:24
Sure. Well, one of the things I see, too, is, is, once you get in, kind of learn the space, learn the trade, you can really go a lot of different directions. And I love to interview people who maybe they, you know, invent a new product, and right? And then they kind of pursue that path, or they come up with a new service, or they want to be own, their own contracting company, and they go start a company. It seems to be that the time and experience and knowledge you gain within the elevator industry becomes very empowering to, you know, give you a lot of opportunities.
Andrew Glauser 12:59
Yeah, I mean, we have, right now a superintendent that I used to work with is kind of doing his own turnkey general contracting on the elevator side, only right, because it’s such a niche. So you go into an older building, they don’t have HVAC in the room. They need to add a shunt trip. They got all this. He was around it for eight, nine years. Knows the ins and outs. He’s working with electrician and some sprinkler folks, and he’s kind of got his own little market on what he wants to do. And there’s, you know, money to be made. You’re working with the same small group of people. You know what the expectation is, and you know what the outcome is, honestly. So, yeah. I mean, once you get into it, you see how specialized it really is. And you kind of hang around the same people and work around the same people, you know, weekly, monthly and yearly. You’ll run into a guy you worked with three years ago on another project, and there he is in a different position at a different company, doing the exact same thing.
Matthew Allred 14:01
Yeah, it definitely seems to get in people’s blood, right? They seem to just love it. And I’ve heard some people say they get addicted to it, you know. They just, you know, love what they do, and want to keep doing it. One of the, one of the things I see, you know, I mentioned, seemingly a shortage of inspectors, but, you know, there’s a lot of growth in residential elevators, for example. And I have a lot of people reach out, and it’s like they can’t find anybody on the planet, or at least enough people, to keep up with the growth, right? They can. They can sell those residential elevators all day long. And there’s, there’s all kinds of growth, but when it comes to installing it, servicing it, you know, repairs, they really seem to struggle in that department. I’m curious what, what do you think can be done to to get the word out there and let you know up and comers know that, hey, this is pretty amazing industry that give will give you a lot of opportunity.
Andrew Glauser 14:55
Yeah, I mean, I and going back to where I started, as an independent, right? I mean. We would maintain home elevators. We would maintain stair lifts, handicapped lifts, a lot of that stuff, most of all, because we didn’t carry the overhead of some of the majors, right? So they didn’t have the profit margin in a lot of it. So I was lucky enough to work on some of that. You know, you go into a doctor’s home in the back and the elevator shut down. He wants to know why. At the same point, like, we have a couple local, small, you know, home lift elevators, and, you know, it’s such a niche market where you almost see them hooking up with certain architects and engineers, you know, it’s kind of like going to a trade show, right? You go, and you meet a new guy, and all of a sudden he’s like, Hey, I got this piece of equipment. Why don’t you try it out and give you a deal on a couple of them. You know? So the biggest thing, I think, with some of the home lifts and the elevators is, you know, who’s following up on them, who has inspected them, who’s checking to make sure that they’re safe, and doing some of that. And I think it’s really just education, you know, the local AHJs, or the local towns, don’t really have a process for one to install it, two to pull a permit, and then three, to inspect it and keep up. A lot of people don’t realize that they follow very similar maintenance and testing schedules, and inspection schedules, that they do a normal elevator. I shouldn’t say normal elevator, but commercial elevator, you know what I mean? And it’s a little different too, right? On a modernization, you could be on a job for six weeks. On a home lift, you could be on it for a day and a half. Yeah, right. So, I mean, they’re a little bit different. The equipment’s out there. Now, with the changes in code, right going into now, 2019 code, 2022 coming out. You’re starting to see them kind of, I don’t say, crack down, but actually draw some of these other smaller units and components into the code, which now you’ll see, you know, a little bit higher cost, some other stuff that needs to be done, some of the software, stuff that, you know, you need to keep track of. So I’m curious to see where, where it goes to here in the next, you know, five to 10 years. Does it, does it simmer down a little bit, or do you see it starting to explode a little bit? And, you know, more Lula’s going in. If you want to be under that 1500 pound capacity, are you getting 2000 pound elevators because of speed or height. So I think it’ll be interesting to see where, where the market really goes,
Matthew Allred 17:27
For sure, when you talked about how several, you know, states kind of do their own thing, certain jurisdictions do their own thing, and some seem pretty aggressive adopting the newest code. Some don’t have any code that they’ve adopted, or at least that they kind of enforce. And, you know, certain states, it’s like, okay, you got an elevator. Congratulations.
Andrew Glauser 17:47
Yeah, and that’s one of the things like we talked about, you know, what a close group, knit group, elevator guys are like, I’m an instructor with NEIEP. So we go to trainings and we talk to guys from California to Hawaii to Louisiana, to Florida. Not one of us draw the same experience, right? The way it gets installed, the way the equipment comes you know, who’s testing it, who’s inspecting it, and that’s where it goes back to the pride of it to drive by that first job that I put in, you know, 20 some years ago, hoping the job that I’m doing today, it should be better, right? Because I’ve had rough my experiences, but at the same point, it’s a safe and I would put anybody in my family or loved ones in that elevator to make sure that, you know, they get up to the next floor where they have to go
Matthew Allred 18:34
Yeah, yeah, that’s awesome. I mean, there’s certain, certainly an amount of pride, right? And just knowing that, hey, if I put my family on this, I know it needs to be safe, and I know that, you know, I’ve done everything I can do to make sure it is and know that it is so it’s got to be, you know, rewarding in That way that you
Andrew Glauser 18:57
Yeah, you know, I think knowing like my job as a foreman, where I am today is to get my workers home safe, right? That’s my number one priority. We go into work, and then when you’re done, you turn an elevator over, an escalator, or whatever it is, to make sure that the riding public gets home safely and makes their way where they got to do, you know, without incident. You know, I just traveled. I was out of town last week with the family on vacation, and the first thing you come to is an airport with a down escalator, you know. And it’s, it doesn’t matter where you go, who you are, how long you’ve been in, you start looking at elevators and escalators and all the equipment, and, you know, wondering who’s working on it, trying to find a mechanic, you know. And two things. Is it shut down for preventative maintenance, or is it shut down for, you know, a callback or shutdown, you know? And if you’re coming back through that exact same airport a week later, you know, they’re either doing something, or they’re waiting on a part, right? You know. So it’s and that goes back to the specialized stuff, depending on what it is. You can’t just go to the local construction store and pick up the component you need. Sure. Sometimes you might be, you know, a couple weeks for something to come in, and you might have to pull something, get it to the machine shop, have it repaired, brought back in, you know, so and those are other, you know, connections you make that all the local spots you go and calling guys, you know, in New York City that have already dealt with the same situation that you are here locally. And hey, how did you handle it? Where do you get your part, your piece, everything else that you need? You know?
Matthew Allred 20:29
Hey everyone, thank you for listening. This is Matt with a brief message from our sponsor. The Allred group, has been recruiting elevator industry talent for over 14 years. If you are looking to grow your business and hiregreat people, contact the Allred group at Allredgroup.com, that’s A, L, L, R, E, D, G, R, O, U, P.com, and talk with Matt and his team about how they can assist you. And now back to the show.
Matthew Allred 20:51
Yeah, yeah. That’s interesting. I was at a NAEC conference a few years ago, and in the lobby that these two beautiful elevators, and yeah, one of them was shut down, and all these elevator contractors are rolling in, going, what is this contract? What in the world?
Andrew Glauser 21:05
I could do better than they could, you know? So, yeah, I mean, it’s, it is? It’s one of those things where you start in it, you’re just kind of a lowly apprentice. You don’t really know what you’re getting into. You’re blindsided. And then there’s something that just kind of clicks for most of the guys, where it turns from a job into a career. And I would say, probably for me, it was, you know, four or five years in up as a temporary mechanic, going through it every day and running into the people. And, you know, I used to take care of a hospital up here in Buffalo for a little bit. And you know, it was my day route I’d started. I had 20 hours a week there. I walk in, and they’d hand me the keys, and I was the elevator dude in the building, and I was like, awesome. That’s how they want to remember me. They didn’t know my first name or whatever didn’t matter to me. You know, you’d see him in the cafeteria, you’d see him at the coffee shop, whatever else, and they knew that you were the guy that was getting them throughout the building safe. You know, it’s pretty cool.
Matthew Allred 21:59
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s a fascinating industry. And I think because of, obviously, there’s, there’s hydraulics and electronics and mechanics, you know, there’s kind of everything, right? If you’re technically minded and technically savvy, I think there are probably a lot of, just a lot of people in the, you know, coming up, maybe, maybe high school kids, that don’t know of the opportunity to really get your hands dirty and learn a trade that can be so rewarding in that way. And, you know, my dad was an educator for 30 some odd years, and then was on the school board, and he used to say that, you know, that, essentially, that college is really designed for like, 20% of the population. But he’s like, but we’ve got large groups of people that really benefit from trades. That’s, that’s really what they’re, you know, they’re very gifted in that way. And so he was a big proponent of, let’s, let’s keep the trades out there. Let’s keep, you know, the shop classes in school. Let’s keep the like, the trade colleges that seems like they’ve, they’ve kind of come and gone in certain certain areas
Andrew Glauser 23:03
I think you’re starting to see some of that come back around now, right? I mean, college with the cost of, you know, education, right? I mean, the nice thing is, is for for us now, the outreach I’ve been part of now four recruitments here in the Buffalo, Western New York area, and to see the people who have come through and the age ranges, from guys in their 40s 50s, girls in their 40s. Sure to this last list, we actually interviewed high school seniors who actually who knew about us, who had heard about it a couple years ago. Their guidance counselors are not always pushing college anymore, either. They have you know what we call up here, BOCES classes, which would be your construction school, welding schools, electrical spots. And I would be pretty proud to say that this last recruitment that we did in 2024 was by far the best group of candidates that I had seen in the in the eight years that I’ve done recruitments, we got a great list. You know, we’re a small, small local up here. There’s only 120 union elevator guys, and we have, I think, 60, just under 65 people on our hire list right now. Wow, right. So it was a great recruit, yeah, it’s great. You know, people come from all over the area to come and do it. People come from other trades because they hear about it. They’re high school students, college students. Some guys are professionals, you know, 10 years as an electrician, Oh yeah, Want to come and do it because they know what the opportunity is. So it’s gotten a little better, you know, recently, and I think that is the outreach. I think you know, people are hearing about it word of mouth, you know, I’ve been to two colleges in the last couple of years to try to talk to their seniors about recruiting them, and saying, Hey, I know you might have a job here, but this is an opportunity for you. You know, we’re seeing diesel mechanics, we’re seeing electricians, we’re seeing auto mechanics. You know, anybody in construction really can do the thing, like, even though it is a niche, you know, you can do hydraulics. You want to be an escalator guy. We’ll put you as an escalator guy, right? I mean, that’s the difference and where we are. And, you know, the training isn’t just, you know, on the job. The nice thing is, training is, you know, whether it’s school at night, right, some of that other stuff that goes right along with it. And now that, you know, some of like, New York State has state licensing came into effect a couple years ago. So now to get a license in New York state, whether you’re union or non union, you have to have four years of schooling and the other stuff to get to that point to become a journeyman, right? So, you know, everybody somehow has to go to work, do the school and then get out of it. The nice thing is, like we’re talking about doing. Have you heard of helmets to hardhats? Yeah, yeah. So we have a list that we keep here in our local where we have 15 helmets that are like, ready to go, and for us, we’ll bring them in, we can interview them, and we can place them anywhere on the list that we want. You know, because those guys that you know, we’ve all said it, guys that fought for the country, they kind of deserve an extra step or a little bit they can jump the line, you know, because not all of us were willing to do that, you know, out of high school or however it worked. And those guys, whether they know it or not, are actually eligible to get paid through their GI Bill, right, to go to school, right? So that’s another thing they might not know. We give them the opportunity to come and then we also let them know, Hey, this is like a college education, so while you’re going to work and sitting in class, you’re going to get another paycheck, right? So it’s just really about letting them know what those opportunities are and allowing them to make the decisions to, you know, come through on them.
Matthew Allred 26:55
That’s awesome. And I It sounds like you guys are doing a great job getting the word out. And I think that’s probably what, what needs to be done, you know, nationwide, whether it’s residential, whether it’s, you know, New York or Florida or Texas, or, you know, union, non union, it’s you know, just a matter of sharing that, hey, this is an awesome industry. It’s got a great, you know, long tradition. It’s, it’s something that people get into and they just love, they love it. They fall in love with who they work with. And, you know, the work that they’re doing is what it really seems like, the community, the camaraderie, it’s all there.
Andrew Glauser 27:28
Yeah, it’s and honestly, like when COVID hit, we kind of always said, you know, I’m always gonna have a job. People need elevators, right? They need escalators. Then all of a sudden, you started to see some of the, you know, stay people stay home working. Right? So the office building, that had 2000 people, all of a sudden had 200 people. And you’re like, Man, am I really going to have a job forever? Like you never really thought about it until that happened, and now, like, you’re starting to see it come back, you know, everybody’s back in the office. So you can think, like, I don’t need to worry about having a job because, you know, real estate’s right there again, everybody’s back to the office, and now all the equipment that sat for those couple of years is back up and running. People didn’t want to pay for maintenance, right? So now, all of a sudden, you’re seeing opportunities for modernization, some of that other stuff that is rolling right back around. And we had a stretch here where we were doing modernization, but really just updating the electrical, right, new controllers, leaving the mechanics right. So the machine stayed, everything in the hoist way stayed the next wave, what you’re seeing is controllers and all the machines are gone, right? They’re going from DC machines, generators to AC gearless. Okay. They all want to go to, you know, we did a big project where we replaced seven gearless old Westinghouse DC machines with brand new Schindler permanent magnet machines, because the building wanted to go green, right? So they put in regenerative drives. They did all that. So that’ll be the next wave, too, where you’re starting to see everybody go energy friendly, so to speak, getting rid of the old stuff. And some of the boards actually want to see, hey, we’re going to make this investment. What’s the return for us, right? So they see their power costs come down. They see some of the other stuff that happens. They see you can move the people through the building faster. And you know, it’s educating the people in the business, the people that get in the business, but also our customers. You know the importance?
Matthew Allred 29:27
Yeah, no, it’s interesting. You know, you like say that with the COVID, you you saw a decrease in commercial but what I’m seeing too is there’s a lot of residential, three, four story, you know, apartments and condos and townhomes going up, which, you know still need elevators. They might not be as tall as your your commercial, but still got plenty of opportunities
Andrew Glauser 29:48
Yeah, and I think you’re seeing a lot of that residential. And 10 years ago, it was the hotel boom, right? You had a Holiday Inn going in down the road, and then you had a comfort in and you had all these suites going up. You. All those have two or three elevators in them, you know. And now, like you said, you’re starting to see the two three story, you know, apartment buildings now go up, and they’re all low income, and once you pop through that third story, now you got to have a hospital service car, right? So you start getting into some of that other stuff. But, yeah, you know. And it’s a different generation, like, I remember buying my first house, I have guys that we work with right now that would rather rep right? They want to live in one of those places. So you see that little, you know, shift in in the residential market, going from everybody being in a home to now wanting to be in a complex or be downtown living, right? As they say, yeah. And even, you know, young professionals, whether you’re in the medical office or, you know, working in the banking industry, they don’t want to come home and mow a lawn anymore. They just want to go to their apartment and then go out for dinner and do all that. Right, so that’s, that’s the change, I think you know kind of what you’re speaking about now
Matthew Allred 30:57
Yeah, well, and through it all right, the elevators are a crucial part of all of that. So it’s
Andrew Glauser 31:04
They’re not going anywhere, that’s what I can say. You know, 20 some years in, I don’t want to have another 20 years, but I can see the future. You know, needing, needing to have 20 years, and then hopefully my apprentices that I’ve had coming up behind me, you know, are going to be there to fill that spot as as I go off into the sunset, hopefully.
Matthew Allred 31:22
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. So as we, as we wrap up our time here. Andrew, what? What would you, I guess, advice would you give to to those who were either brand new or maybe they’re thinking about getting into the industry?
Andrew Glauser 31:35
Yeah. I mean, for me, it really doesn’t matter who you’re working with or where you are, you’re always going to be able to learn something from, you know, the best mechanic or the best team on the planet, or they could be, you know, an average guy, or they don’t want to do the extra stuff, ask the right questions, ask the wrong questions, right? Just ask questions. Be a sponge, right? That’s what I tell my students. It doesn’t really matter what you’re doing, who you’re with. If you don’t understand, ask if somebody is spending the extra time to actually teach you. Pay attention. Write notes. Because if I’m doing door work for three four days, I’m hoping that you By day three or day four are going to be able to one to jump in there and, you know, actually take over for me. I always like to say, I as a mechanic now I’m probably the best apprentice you would ever have, right like, I love being able to have somebody else do the work in me, you know, for one, showing them what we did to having them go in there and do that and then say, Hey, I don’t even need you go do another task right now, I got this under control, right? So be aware, listen to opportunities, you know? I mean, that’s how you and I met, right? And we reached out about an opportunity, and I said, You know what? At the time, I’m pretty happy where I am still, right now, I’m pretty happy where I am, but I listen to any opportunity that comes across my desk, right? Because you never know what the what tomorrow holds, you know. And now, you know, in the the elevator market, where we are with, you know, the majors and some of the stuff, you can, at times, feel like you’re just a number, right? And you’re not really valued all the time. But, you know, I like to say again, as a foreman, without my guys around me doing their work. If they’re better or as good than I am, they make my job way easier on myself, right? So just surround yourself with the right people. Ask questions. Don’t be shy, and most of all for me is, you know, make sure you’re, you’re getting home safe at the end of the day. You know, follow all your company’s procedures. And, you know, the guy you’re with, because who I’m working with, I have to have his back, and he’s got to have my back, so we both get to go home at the end of the day. You know, that’s really what it’s all about.
Matthew Allred 33:55
Oh, absolutely, yeah. I mean, it is at the end of the day. It is high risk, right? There’s, there’s great rewards, but it is high risk. You know
Andrew Glauser 34:02
It’s a very, very dangerous business, right? 100% It’s gotten better. 100 since I’ve gotten in, it’s gotten safer. They give you right tools, everything else. There’s not a question, if it comes to safety or equipment, the company is going to get it, you know, whatever you need to do the job. And if they get it for you and you do it quicker, it’s even, you know, more beneficial to them. But safety is for me, day to day is the most important thing, because if we don’t come in with safety on our mind at the beginning of the day, we might not make it home at the end of the day, right? We didn’t get into this business for a shorter life. We got it for a better life for us and our family.
Matthew Allred 34:42
Yeah, perfectly said, Thank you, Andrew. I appreciate you being with me today. It’s been a lot of fun again.
Andrew Glauser 34:48
Yeah, thank you, Matt. I appreciate the invitation, and hopefully, you know, good conversation. I appreciate everything that you do, and the outreach that you do, and you know, love watching your stuff on YouTube, and we’ll be talking. Again soon, I’m sure.
Matthew Allred 35:00
Thank you. Take care.
Andrew Glauser 35:02
Appreciate you. Thank you, sir.
Matthew Allred 35:04
Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting. Please visit our YouTube channel at Elevator Careers, or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net. Please like and subscribe and until next time, stay safe.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai