Celebrations for visionary owner included congratulatory video from vendors, factory partners, customers, and Glass 3 Enterprises team members

G3E is proud to honor Ralph Aknin, founder and friend, as he celebrates 45 years in the glass industry.  

“Honesty, integrity, confidence, visionary, collaborator, compassionate, responsible, humble, positive attitude and a truly outside-of-the-box thinker and doer best describes our mentor, leader and friend,” says Seth Maretz, Director of Sales for G3E. “You couldn’t find a more spirited, committed, authentic person than Ralph. The team and I are all in agreement with this!”

Nearing five decades of service in the glass industry, Aknin began his glass career in product sales for ‘National Glass’ in Langley, BC and Calgary, Alberta-based operations. He later branched off to start Glass 3 Enterprises in 2005 and hasn’t looked back since. June 8, 2021 marks another milestone with the creation of Glass 3 Enterprises.

Aknin has witnessed many industry changes from 1976 until today. With this past year being a time of challenge, glass price increases, lead-time disruption, change and pivoting safety measures in the workplace, employee commitment and longevity have never been in question. Moving into 2021, through Aknin’s vision G3E  is growing both in sales and team members with a number of in-market U.S.-based sales representatives, a market development manager, director of sales and a supply chain expert. Employee engagement is at an all time high as the team shares in Aknin’s insight, direction and growth projections and endless opportunities. 

Reflecting on his 45 years in business, Aknin conveyed with simplicity, “Believe in yourself, your team, trust your vendors and factory partners/suppliers. Without a great supplier, you will not have customers. Keep the process simple and recognize that every project presented does have its own life. The opportunity to call industry influencers who are more knowledgeable than enables me to continue to learn, grow and share with others, including my team and customers. All businesses have multiple ways for reaching out to their customers and partners. Call me ‘old school’, as I value the importance of staying in touch through direct phone calls (especially this past year). It’s the personal touch that seems to pay off.  Once travel bans have been lifted, it will be back to personal one-on-one visits and building up my frequent flyer program! At the end of the day, I always reflect that conversations continue to help decide who to do business with and helps drive a successful procurement and a long-lasting relationship.”