Thank You, Paul Bieber

Paul Bieber announced his retirement from writing for USGlass magazine last month. I hope you all had a chance to read Paul’s article in the latest magazine issue.

Paul has impacted many companies and people in our industry for over 47 years; I know because I was one. I met Paul in June 1980 when he hired me as an outside salesperson for C.R. Laurence Co. (CRL). This gave me my start in the glass business, for which I will always be grateful.

It seems like I have been following Paul’s lead ever since. I originally took over the Boston and New England territory for CRL, the same territory where Paul got his start in the glass business a few years earlier before being promoted to the Northeast regional sales manager for CRL.

Paul was always a great guy to work for because of his positive attitude and encouragement. I learned a lot about the industry and sales from him. I am sure that with his recommendation, I was promoted several years later to Midwest regional sales manager for CRL in Chicago. We were peers for several years at CRL until Paul decided to move on to Floral Glass and Mirror in Hauppauge, N.Y., as vice president and general manager.

When Paul Bieber left CRL, I took his position as the northeast regional sales manager based in New Jersey, and he became one of our customers. He left me with a great group of salespeople to work with and a growing region. Paul went on to grow with Floral, and I grew with CRL.

The industry and both companies have changed a lot over the years. Floral Glass went on to get purchased by Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope® as did CRL years later. Paul went on to start a consulting business, write a book and offer me the opportunity to join his blog on Tuesdays.

This was not something that I was looking for after retiring from CRL in 2019, but with Paul’s continued encouragement and confidence in me, here I am. My relationship with Paul over the years proves that this is a people industry. If you take the time to learn what it’s all about the glass industry will take care of you and your family.

I wish Paul and his family the best of health as he moves on to spending more time with them and baseball, of course. Tuesday’s with Paul has been a great experience for me. I want to thank Paul for being my boss, mentor, and most importantly, a good friend.