XYG North America and Autobahn-sponsored keynote speaker Mike Rowe came away from his first Auto Glass Week™ in San Antonio with a solid impression of not only the industry as a whole, but the people behind the scenes who make it work.
Mike Rowe addresses a packed house at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.
After giving his keynote presentation on Thursday, Sept. 15, Rowe took to his Facebook page.
“It’s National Auto Glass Week in San Antonio. I know this, because I just spoke to a few thousand people responsible for the manufacturing, tinting, calibrating, and installation of your windshield, without whom there would be no transportation industry,” Rowe wrote. “It was a pleasure to be in their company and share a few filthy stories from my disgusting resume. Big thanks to all who attended … and XYG and Autobahn for paying the freight. I appreciate it.”
Rowe continues, saying that the event drove home the fact that there is a great amount of opportunity for success in the United States.
“The official unemployment rate may be low, but so too is the overall labor participation rate,” Rowe continues. “Millions of able-bodied people are choosing not to work, and eleven and a half million positions remain open – most of which don’t require a four-year degree. In fact, many of those 11.5 million open positions that currently exist in our country, exist in industries like this one, and all of them represent a path to something that looks a lot like prosperity.”
Attendees of Auto Glass Week™, Rowe says, include small business owners who are “absolutely killing it, doing things with glass that most of us don’t think twice about.”
“They are busy beyond belief, and every single one of them is hiring,” he says.
Mike Rowe was great. He got a standing ovation at the end of his presentation and it was well deserved.