Meet Chris Fronsoe
National Architectural Team Manager, Vitro Architectural Glass
There’s nothing Chris Fronsoe loves more than seeing people succeed. As a Vitro National Architectural Team Manager for western U.S. and western Canada, Chris is passionate about training members of his team to become better professionals and people.
“I love seeing people work hard and feel success at the end of the day,” Chris said. “I always hope the best for everybody, and I always want to stand by them. What brings me to work every day is the opportunity to help people realize their goals.”
Recently, Chris spearheaded Vitro’s newest Continuing Education course, “Using Glass to Reduce Embodied and Operational Carbon.” The course helps architects, designers and others to better understand embodied and operational carbon, as well as how to select combinations of low-e coatings and glass substrates to reduce a building’s energy usage.
“The course was driven by what was happening in the design communities married with what Vitro has accomplished and where Vitro aspires to be,” Chris said. “Vitro is a leader and pioneer in lowering its carbon footprint, so I thought this was an important opportunity to position our glass as a choice building product for many years to come.”
What’s the most challenging part of the job? For Chris, it’s a simple answer.
“The most challenging part of the job is to lose,” he said. “Say you put a lot of hard work in with the architect, and you get basis of design. You've learned from the general contractor who the glazing subcontractors are, and you have a relationship. But at the very last minute, something happens where a glazing subcontractor wins the project, but they choose a non-Vitro fabricator. It’s tough to feel that loss along with your team members, but it's part of the sales process. You can control your response to it because you know you've still done a fantastic job representing Vitro.”
Outside the office, Chris has three true passions: food, wine and art. As a certified wine educator and sommelier, Chris hosts “Vino with Vitro,” a free bimonthly drink-and-learn event for design professionals that pairs a wine tasting class with key themes related to specifying glass products.
“’Vino with Vitro’ allows my hobbies of food and wine to stay alive,” Chris said. “I came from the high-end restaurant world prior to my time in the glass industry, so that passion never went away.”
Chris also maintains a healthy collection of pop surreal and outsider art, a hobby his wife doesn’t exactly share.
“If I’m out with my team at nighttime, I’ll find myself in some art district going through galleries buying art every time,” he said. “My wife doesn’t let me hang it, though. She hates it.”
Moving forward, Chris and his team are looking to increase Vitro’s market share of “skyline-defining projects.” After extensive research, Chris’s team is working hard to develop new ways to approach large-scale projects in cities across North America.
“As a result of us working toward that goal, we’ve seen a great increase in our presence and wins on those projects,” Chris said. “I think over the next few years, you’re going to see a lot of towers in the sky with Vitro glass.”
To get in touch with Chris, email him at cfronsoe@vitro.com or give him a call at 360-605-6996.
