S4E5: YMI Talking to Eric Mesko from Mesko Glass

The full episode with Eric Mesko from Mesko Glass is officially out now 🎙️

Located right in East Stroudsburg, Mesko Glass has been a part of the community for generations. We talked about the history behind the business, the iconic building so many locals recognize, and the work they continue to do throughout the area today.

A really cool conversation highlighting another longtime local business with deep roots in our community. Make sure to check out the full episode!

For more info on YMI insurance visit our website at ymiagency.com

Or give us a call at 610-868-8762 to see how we can better protect your business and family.

Transcript

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We just we just care about what we're doing. On the commercial jobs, I think what what generates all of our business is that we just have such a good team and they do such a good job. And, you know, they these contractors don't have to worry about calling us and following up with us constantly. They don't have to worry about problems after the installation is completed and they know we're there. If there is an issue, they can call us and get a hold of us. I know again, that sounds nuts, but it's like, you know, there's a lot of contracting companies that just basically they get your money and then that's it. Yeah, but we've been in the same place for almost seven years. So if we do something wrong, people know exactly where to find us. Yeah. You know, so it's just really it's our main priority just to make sure we're doing a great job every time. Welcome to YMI Talking! A podcast where the guests are so good you'll wonder why the host is even talking. In each episode, you will hear one of the leaders of the Lehigh Valley’s vibrant business hub. They will tell you the keys to their success, the mistakes they've made, and what they have in store for the future. Here is the host of YMI Talking, from YMI Insurance, Jimi Honochick. All right. I am so excited for this episode. What I love about season four and coming up to the Poconos is I get to yuk it up with people that I have known for years, and this is one of those instances. Eric Mesko if you don't know him, then you are doing something wrong in the Poconos. He is born and raised here in the Poconos. He is the president partner at Mesko Glass, which is a third generation family business. That's right. He was an incredible tee ball player and little leaguer. And I'm just happy that I get to reconnect with you here. Eric, it's a pleasure to be here today. Jimmy. Thanks for the invite. Absolutely. So talk to me about growing up in the Poconos. You know, like I said, we we, I think first met in Little League over here at Stroudsburg Little League. Just your experiences growing up here. You and I were very lucky to grow up in the exact spot that we did, which would be the Cherry Valley region of Hamilton and Stroud Township. And I'd really like kind of a Huck Finn childhood where I ran through the woods and, you know, just did a lot of outdoorsy stuff. I was sort of outside all the time and really enjoyed that. We had a pond. I played pond hockey, but just spent a lot of time in the woods and riding bikes and just doing a lot of outdoorsy type of stuff just right around our home, basically. So that's awesome. And then as you're doing that, I mean, any you see your dad going to work at Mesko Glass, is that in your head at that point? Or. I was obsessed with the glass company from really my first memories as a as a child. Really? Yeah. I just always wanted to be involved. I would go visit my father and, you know, my grandfather was there and my uncles were there. And it's funny because the building still smells exactly the same. And like, it's one of my first, like, core memories as a person. Like, I just remember how it smelled and looks and feels and. Yeah. Yeah. And so, I mean, watching your dad and your grandfather in the business talk to me about, you know, the family dynamic there. Are they getting along? Is it all, you know, they see things. I'd I just how did you see that? As you're growing up, most people involved with family businesses, I think would probably have a similar story to me. Like a lot of ups and downs in terms of family relationships. But a lot of times, especially if we had a big deadline or like a really big project, the way that you can, you know, sort of rally together because you know, your your blood. Yeah. And get things done, I think is was for a long time one of our strong points. You know, there would definitely be an occasional infighting. But when something really needed to get done, you could get three, 4 or 5 family members together and go there and get it done. Yeah, yeah. And that is the nice part of being a family, right? Is you are there in the business together, but you're at home together. And so when you need something, you know that they have your perfect and you know, your evolution from kind of growing up and watching it to now being in it, I mean, talk, talk a little bit about that. What was it like? Did you go right into it out of school? Right out of high school. Okay. I was doing poorly at and I was I was going to go to Kutztown and get a business degree. And my father just, you know, pulled me into his office and said, hey, why don't you just skip that and and come right to work? I had already been working there, you know, in the summers and on the weekends, like helping with stuff. So it was just a natural fit for me. Yeah. Do you come in at the ground floor? Are you kind of, you know, working at the bottom of the ladder and working your way up or how does it work? I would help in the shop like I, I grew up like fixing windows and like cutting little glass orders. And my first job there, my first official job there was our retail counter. So that was actually like at the height of the building boom in the Poconos, too, like in ‘05 and ’06. So we had a really busy retail business at the time. So, you know, mirrors, cut glass for things, people with broken windows, that type of stuff. It was, you know, it was really fun. Yeah. You know, I'm going to give you guys a plug actually on this point because I was I got this awesome roundtable at Costco. I'm the biggest Costco fan in the world. I buy local on everything, but Costco sucks me in. Sure. And I'm literally here and I'm talking to modesty. And I was like, it's great. But my kids scratch it up all the time and I don't know, it's round. I don't know how to get a piece of glass for it. I can't figure it out. She goes, have you thought about mezcal glass? I was like, oh, light bulb moment. And so you guys make it so easy though. Like, I literally went online, submitted a form and before I think anyone even reached out, they had a quote to me. Yeah. So easy. Awesome. We got our second piece because I got it from my niece and nephew for during the summers when I was babysitting and I was scared. We just moved into our apartment and I was like, they're going to ruin our friendship. Yeah. And then I end up breaking it. So because I dropped my phone on top of the table from putting a planter on the top, and it's so easy to getting a new one, they had my measurements ready and I was like, can I just get a new one, please? Right. Oh, I love I love hearing that. That's probably the most common question we get asked when people call is like, do you cut glass here? Yeah, I know that sounds crazy, but it's like I mean, it's a several times a day. Yeah. You know, but well, I grew up, you know, first off, the building where it is, it's such a great location. It is, you know, everyone passes by it regularly. Do you guys take pride in sort of. You're a foundational part of East Stroudsburg and why? Yeah, I definitely feel that way. Yeah, for sure it was. My grandfather purchased it in the late 50s. And, you know, there had been a really bad flood in the Stroudsburg, Stroudsburg area, and I think probably a large part of Pennsylvania. But that building was mostly underwater at the time in 55. So, you know, he purchased it and dug it out and cleaned it up. And and we've been there since then. So it's almost 70 years now. Yeah. Yeah, it's such a landmark. But, you know, driving by it, I would always assume like windows that was that was all I thought about. Yeah a lot of people think windows. Yeah. So you know give us what does Mesko Glass do. We have a large commercial contracting arm. So a lot of the big projects you see in the Poconos. So like right now the new Hertel car dealership. Yeah, we did the the Saint Luke's Bartlesville, a lot of projects in the Lehigh Valley to a lot of large scale projects. And then from a residential standpoint, it's up to you. But I sent you a picture because I was at a restaurant. Yeah, yeah. And they're on the the opening doors there was Mesko glass. Yeah. So when we put commercial doors and we usually leave like a little, it's also for service purposes. So if something goes wrong with the door they know who to call it. Yeah. So but that was right there now. So you guys do get down there. Oh yeah a lot a lot of probably half of our revenues come from okay Lehigh Northampton. But from a residential standpoint we do you know hey I broke a window. We do a lot of shower enclosures. So we work with a lot of residential builders. And we do, you know, custom shower enclosures. And then we do vinyl replacement windows. That's probably the three main things we do residentially. Yeah. So if I am getting new windows. Am I coming to you and you set you do the whole set? Yeah. Most mostly replacement style. So you have like an existing, you know, you have a house that was built in the 80s and it has the original windows from it. We come in and sell like a really high quality, really reasonably priced vinyl window to replace. Okay. Can I ask you a really dumb question? Sure, yeah. Where does glass come from? About 5000 years ago. I should know this better than I do. But basically, glass is an accidental human invention. I forget the exact, like, chemicals that come together, but it's mostly sand. Yeah, but like, ancient humans, like, discovered it. Yeah. And then now we, you know, mass manufacture it. But a lot of glass. What's, what's so interesting about it. And one of my favorite parts about is it's essentially infinitely recyclable. So anything made out of glass can be turned into more glass. So broken, broken pieces, glass bottles, like, really anything broken window, whatever. Basically that's ground up. It gets turned into a thing called cull it. And then they mix that in with other materials to make more glass interesting. Yeah. That's cool. Suck on that plastic. I mean, it's so people are always like, oh, what are they going to invent that won't be breakable, that'll replace it eventually. And there are materials that are plastics that are essentially unbreakable that could do the same job as glass, except that they're from a durability standpoint. They're not as good. They discolor, they get scratched, and they're not recyclable. Right. You know, so the whole it is really a superior material for a lot of things. But it's just like kind of fragile people are people are sort of scared of it. It's almost as like a mythical. Yeah, yeah. But it is like an ancient building material. Like we've had it for thousands of years. Yeah. When you look at all the different things that we build out of, it is one of the oldest things we use. Yeah, absolutely. Do you have any cool glass projects that you've done that kind of stand out above the other ones? I think probably the Saint Luke's Bartlesville building and the MLB in front of it. I mean, those are 6 or 7 story, we call it a curtain wall, but just a big tall window system. Yeah. I mean, if you go look at that, like that's some real construction prowess. Like the whole building itself is really beautiful. The new the new car dealership we're working on is going to have an 80ft car tower, like facing route 80, and that's all glass around it. So basically when you're driving down route 80, you'll be able to see all the different cars they have, like how do you do that? Like, I can't imagine 80ft of glass is an easy accomplishment. Do we just have great people? Yeah, yeah. I mean, we just do. We really have we have great installers and we have great project managers. And you know, we just we just get it done. And are you making the glass for something like that or are you purchasing it and then doing the install work. And we're probably in the supply chain. We're probably the third or fourth element. Okay. So the primary manufacturer, the glasses manufacturer and things called float plants. And the thing with them is like once they're online, they just make glass forever until they're shut down after like 20 years. So basically sheets of glass come off there. Then it goes to like a fabricator. So who's going to turn it into insulating glass and temper it and that stuff. Then it comes to us. Then we install it. I love this because I think it's so easy to just be like, oh, they do glass, but there's so much that goes into it, right? I mean, where do you spend most of your time day to day? Like I, I don't. This isn't like a cool thing, but like honestly collecting money. Yeah, unfortunately, you know, like all that out. I wish it was like, oh, I just do this all day, you know, have fun conversations with people, which I do. You know, I try to network. I do a lot of networking. I'm involved in the Builders Association. I'm a part of it. Back in chapter, I try to get out and see people and do that type of stuff. But yeah, I mean, I do. I spend a lot of time dealing with personnel, collecting money and trying to develop new business. At the end of the day, you know, where does new business come from? For something like you guys, you know, for many years it was like, I know this is this is another thing that's that's going to sound crazy, but it's just the truth. It's like we're the only people that answered the phone like we called ten people, and you're the only people that answered the phone, and you're the only people that called me back, or it's we had a good, you know, our neighbor had a good, you know, experience with you. I mean, that really is we do marketing more marketing than we used to. But I mean, most of it is word of mouth and just people are just happy with the work we've done for them in the past. It's so funny. We have looked at this, you know, pretty strategically as well, like where's the best spend of our money? And 90% of our new business is referrals. And and I think that's true for most businesses. Definitely. We do all these fun, fancy things that we think are going to bring in money. But at the end of the day, it's doing a good job. And that's something that clearly you guys take pride in. Absolutely. Yeah, I a happy customer is my main priority. That's that's the thing I want the most. What makes Mesko Glass different from another glass company? You guys pick up the phone. That's a great start. Sure. But besides that, you know what makes Mesko Glass distinct and unique? I just I just think we care, you know? We just we just care about what we're doing. On the commercial jobs, I think what what generates all of our business is that we just have such a good team and they do such a good job. And, you know, they these contractors don't have to worry about calling us and following up with us constantly. They don't have to worry about problems after the installation is completed and they know we're there. If there is an issue, they can call us and get a hold of us. I know again, that sounds nuts, but it's like, you know, there's a lot of contracting companies that just basically they get your money and then that's it. Yeah, but we've been in the same place for almost seven years. So if we do something wrong, people know exactly where to find us. Yeah. You know, so it's just really it's our main priority just to make sure we're doing a great job every time. That's really interesting. And I've never thought about it like that. But you have been somewhere 70 years, right? Almost. There's a lot of history that goes into that and a lot of trust that you've built up. Do you feel the weight of that like goodwill on that trust every day? Yeah. How do you how do you push through it or how do you, you know, live with that? I don't know, I probably be happier if I took a no, I, I I want the company to make it to 100 years. Yeah, I have a son. I'd love it for him to take over. I have a son and a daughter, so I'd love it if they're both involved. And, you know, I say this a lot, you know, glass. And it sounds simple and silly, but, you know, glass allows human beings to see through walls. Oh, you know, it's like that. Yeah. So it's like, I just feel like we have, like a we just have an important role. Yeah, it's just an important thing. And it's often overlooked. Like there's no trade school for for glazing. There's no like, you know, there's no support network. It's like we we basically bring people in, we teach them how to do what we do. Yeah. And but because it's like a necessary thing that has to happen. Yeah. So that's that's really cool. Do the kids show any interest in it yet? My son is obsessed with construction. He's so yeah. That's awesome. So yeah, he's obsessed with construction. He, like, I can't keep him like, you know, my wife sent me a picture of him yesterday. He had my. You know, I have a backpack leaf blower. Yeah. He's four. So he's, you know, a little guy. And he was trying to like, you know, get it on, but he's like, always grabbing my tools and putting them everywhere and stuff. So you know, he's obsessed with it. And you know, my daughter enjoys doing work, you know, I'm not sure, but he just loves, like, trucks and machinery. Yeah, type of thing. None of my children love insurance. I'm sorry. I'm trying really hard here. Yes. Yeah. Did you? No, not at all. I, I got as far away from it as I could. Yeah, yeah. All right, all right. This help? Sure. Yeah. I mean, I'm just trying to. I'm just trying to brainwash them. Yeah. Oh. That's all. So, I mean, I just I'm like, oh, here's the new, you know, he's, he's got six of the same Tonka dump truck. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's like whenever he sees one he's like, oh I need another one. It's like okay. Yeah. Get you another one. Let's scratch that itch. Yeah, yeah. Oh, it's funny like hearing your story. It's very similar to our story 70 years right about where we are. Third generation. I kind of have to cheat to get there, but it's third generation. Yeah. I mean, it's just really cool to kind of live that legacy out. When you talk about caring about your clients and those sorts of things, does that come from your dad and your grandfather? Like, where do those values kind of come from? Yeah, I mean, they definitely have that. They ingrained that type of culture in me of, you know, taking care of people for sure. I'm I'm on another level, though, with caring about our clients. Yeah. Like it's it's definitely a me thing also where I'm just like, again, it's just my main. I just want everybody to be happy. Like, I just don't want to ever let anybody down. Yeah. From a customer standpoint, yeah, absolutely. You know. And have you always been that way? Like growing up. Yeah. Yeah yeah I mode lawns. Like when I was the moment I got my driver's license I mode grass. Like I would work part time at the glass shop, you know. And I would mow lawns after school in all weekend. I just like always wanted to work and you know, having my own, like, little thing taught me to be like, okay, you really have to take care of people. And so just sort of that just morphed into what I'm doing now. Yeah. And you love it. Yeah. Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah. No I love my we again. We have like really great people. They make my life a lot easier. I couldn't do it without them. And it really does make like the job I do now. Like a real joy. How big is the team? We're at about 30. That's great. I mean, that's a great size. Yeah, yeah. And you're working on big projects. Talk to me a little bit about we talked kind of about growing up, but you know what the Poconos mean to you. You were born here, technically born in Bethlehem. All right. Lived here my whole life. Yeah, yeah, born and raised. I'm going to say it here in the Poconos. And you know what? What does that mean to you? You've seen it kind of transform through the years. Talk to me about the Poconos. To you. I mean, I just think it's a it's a it's a really nice place to live. And when you think about the convenience, it has to just so many different things. I mean, that's why it's become so popular. You know, it's just now we have the water parks, but, you know, just golf courses, skiing of, you know, availability. You can go to North Jersey and New York and do all kinds of fun things without driving that far. You can drive to Philadelphia. It's not that far away. And the natural beauty of the Poconos is really, I think, the main driver, you know, you have waterfalls. You just have like a lot, you know, there's lots of open areas where you can go, like walk around in the woods and, you know, be in nature. You know, I just think that's a huge benefit. Yeah. And you can't see that stuff from inside your house if you don't have class. That's exactly. Yeah. Yeah. You get it? Yeah. I'm on board. Are you. How do you balance the family? Right. Like you've got two kids, you've got a wife. But you were also, you know, the president of a large business in the Poconos. I mean, how do you find the balance there? My wife's incredible. Yeah, yeah. I mean, she's awesome. She takes them to school when they go, and she just incredible. She's she's great. She always has dinner for me. She. Can you cook I love cooking. Do you. Yeah. Yeah I cook all weekend. But yeah, she just does everything she can to, like, make my life easier all the time. She's she's awesome. You know, I hate when I hear a husband just being a better husband than me, like I can't. Sure that's not true. Well, I'm sure there's other things you do, though, I. Yeah, I'm waiting to find them. Well, I'm sure they're out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've really enjoyed cooking. I've made that a focus of mine to try to make, like, better food. And what's, what's your go to dish like, what do you most proud of that you make like a beef stew. Like a beef Borgen Jon though, you know, like in a Dutch oven. I like I like braising professional. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I know that. Yeah, we like that. You know, we do a lot of grilling and stuff. So. Yeah. for listening to another episode of the Why Am I talking podcast. If you enjoyed this and want to hear more content from amazing personalities in the Valley, please subscribe. Leave a rating and drop us a quick review.