We’ve just sent our September/October issue off to the printer, and while the event may not rate champagne corks bouncing off the ceiling, there’s a sense of cautious celebration in the air. Why?
Because it experienced a pronounced increase in ad pages…the highest in nearly two years. Is this a harbinger of things to come in the construction industry? While it’s too soon to tell for sure, there are reasons for hope.
Other signs that things may be headed in a positive direction can be found in construction employment increases in a number of key areas around the country and a resurgence in transport activity after a prolonged period of continual erosion. But one factor that turned up in our most recent readership survey conducted this past June was that more than 80% of the respondents expected their budgets to be the same or higher than last year’s…a decided turnaround from our previous survey.
Perhaps it’s the realization that you and many others have, that you’ve gone face-to-face with the worst economic situation in a lifetime, and you’re still here—maybe a little battle-scarred, but still here, leaner and meaner than ever.