Five Years One Voice
Five years ago, the National Glass Association (NGA) and the Glass Association of North America (GANA) combined in order to harness the resources each association provided into one organization. This combined association has delivered on its promises to the industry with expanded education and training programs, advocacy efforts, technical publications, two magazines and a robust schedule of conferences and events, while reducing member costs and effort.
Event Milestones
- November 2018: Legacy members of NGA and GANA come together for a two-day strategic planning retreat to chart the course of the newly combined association
- March 2019: NGA assumes responsibility for Glass Processing Automation Days (GPAD)
- August 2019: NGA Fall Conference is held in Toledo, known as “glass city,” in conjunction with the Old Guard Reunion—an annual gathering of glass industry veterans
- January 2020: NGA’s Annual and Fall Conferences change names to NGA Glass Conferences
- March 2020: BEC Conference goes to Nashville for the first time, marking the largest BEC Conference attendance in a decade
- March 2022: Bridging the Supply Chain was a half day of solution-sharing programming that bridged BEC Conference and GPAD
- June 2022: NGA hosts NGA Blueprint for Collaboration in conjunction with AIA’22 to discuss challenges and solutions of the future of glass in design
- August 2022: NGA announces GlassBuild America: The Glass, Window & Door Expo will head to Dallas and Orlando in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
NGA’s Global Alliance & Advocacy Reach
The NGA-GANA combination facilitated more robust events for the industry to educate, idea-share and network and further strengthened NGA’s industry advocacy and technical resources. In addition to the BEC Conference, Glazing Executives Forum, two annual NGA Glass Conferences and GlassBuild America, NGA expanded its advocacy and reach through two initiatives in 2022.
International Year of Glass
The United Nations declared 2022 as the International Year of Glass (IYOG), which celebrated the essential role glass has and will continue to have in society. Look back at NGA’s celebration of the IYOG.
In May 2022, NGA published the Glossary of Architectural Glass & Glazing, a comprehensive list of 1,800 industry terms. To commemorate IYOG, NGA made the downloadable version free to members throughout 2022.
NGA updated the GANA Glazing Manual, International Year of Glass Edition, in December 2022. The manual includes complete information about the primary and fabricated glass products, quality standards, design considerations, general and specific glazing guidelines, and glazing in hazardous locations.