MEET KEVIN! Senior PM at AGNORA

The people of AGNORA are what makes it such a great place to work. Fantastic people allow us to create world-class projects that are a blend of creative, custom, challenging, and in many cases, BIG. 

Just who are you speaking with every day, and who are the people that help you to make your glass project a reality?

This week, we meet Kevin Nash, Senior PM at AGNORA. Kevin has been with the company for more than 10 years. He is sharp, witty, and knows his glass. He has output some incredible work, and if you don’t know Kevin, read on, we promise its entertaining:

Top 5 projects you are proud of over the last 5 years?

• Climate Pledge Arena - Home to NHL Seattle Kraken.
• Onassis Staircase at Olympic Tower 5th Avenue -  I was proud to partner internally, executing this technical feat of self-supporting, all-glass stairs. An engineering marvel.
• H&M Flagship Store 5th Avenue. - I still like visiting this store when I go to NYC.  It was my second major project when I joined AGNORA.
• 50 Bloor St. Toronto - Holt Renfrew renovation & 60 Bloor St. Toronto - former GAP store - Just because it was cool to execute two neighboring reno’ projects both on the North side of Bloor Street.
• BIG Architect’s Lobby in The New “Spiral” Building in NYC -  We had a significant glass supply issue, but we made lemonade out of lemons. (I still wake up screaming about this one, but at least the nightmares are getting shorter.) 

Top pet peeves?

• Email hygiene, etiquette, best practices, or whatever you want to call it. 

a) Unwarranted ‘reply all.’ - If I don’t need to know, I don’t need to know.

b) Update the subject line. - If you started talking about countersunk hole diameters but the conversation has evolved to the new Tesla, then let’s update the subject line. It is your email’s first clue to what you’re talking about.

• Turn signals - Their use, and your IQ, are directly proportional. 

 What challenges do you enjoy the most with architectural glass?

It is not so much a ‘challenge’ but I do love the tangibility and longevity of architectural glass.  

I’ve been in architectural glass for over ten years now. Before, I was twenty-five years in commercial printing. Glass and paper are remarkably similar in terms of both raw materials manufacturing.

Catalogs, brochures, and direct mail in advertising are only used as the medium to tell a story. Unfortunately, the actual medium of ink on paper is truly disposable by nature, and I literally cannot show you one sample of a project I did from a twenty-five-year career in commercial printing. BUT, I can take you up and down 5th Avenue in NYC and easily show you more than a dozen projects that we made. 

  Why do AGNORA projects hit different?

How long do you have??  

Customer service is in our DNA. If it’s good news or even bad news, customer service ultimately means NO SURPRISES. Customer service sounds easy, and sometimes trivial because everybody talks the talk.  

When a client comes to us with an opportunity, we first review and evaluate in terms of customer service, “Are we your best partner?” If we determine we are the best fit, we will take it on from the very first email or phone call to embrace it – to OWN it.

We will communicate as best we can regarding all the expectations we can think of - for mutual benefit around all of the service and quality details that are unique to each project, and customer.  

For me, the icing on the cake is the appreciation from customers, whom we see as partners. The level of professionalism in the construction and glazing industry astounds me. 

Anything else you would like to mention...

I am extremely thankful to AGNORA. 

I’ve had great opportunities to grow personally and contribute to our ongoing success. AGNORA has allowed my family to work, live and play in a fantastic part of our country.  While my work path here has zig-zagged, I will leave with the pride and memories of my best effort, and non-linear contribution to AGNORA’s foundation years. We reap many of those efforts’ benefits today.  

I learn every day.  Every day is different and challenging. I work with nice people. I like them. Our team is strong and growing.  We worked, together and remotely, surviving stupid Covid.  And in the early morning, before my workday starts, I can cardio my way up the steep parts of nearby Blue Mountain with my wife and our pet doodle dog Roxy. I am extremely thankful for these last 10+ years. Life is good.