As we head into this holiday weekend, be sure to carve out some time to read the feature story posted yesterday by Metal Construction News titled, “Uncharted Waters.” Paul Deffenbaug, editorial director, asks five industry experts to weigh in on the current business environment given the disruption caused by the coronovirus pandemic. They all respond to questions covering these five key areas: length of time for the industry to bounce back, the greatest challenges being faced as a result of coronavirus from a business perspective, the effect on the labor shortage, the best tactical moves to address the changing market and recommendations to get the industry back on track.
The esteemed panel, most of whom have been fixtures in our METALCON community since the show’s inception, include:
- Dale Nelson, president of Roof Hugger, MCA Board Member and member of the Metal Construction Hall of Fame
- Chuck Howard, PE, Metal Roof Consultants and a member of the Metal Construction Hall of Fame
- Todd Miller, president of Isaiah Industries, Metal Construction Hall of Fame honoree and past-president of the Metal Construction Association;
- Jim Tuschall, president and CEO of Tuschall Engineering, MCA board member and chairman of the organization’s metal wall panel committee
- Daniel Miller, senior vice president with Sure Steel
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE
In addition to the panelist’s responses, MCN has also included results from the three surveys they’ve conducted since the end of March. It is very interesting to see the comparisons and contrasts in the responses over the three month timespan. For example, in over just more than a month, attitudes and tactics among contractors, architects and manufacturers have evolved. In the first survey, 58.4% of respondents said the coronavirus threat was very dangerous, but a month later that had more than halved to 23.8%. The most notable change is among those who view the coronavirus as not very dangerous or not dangerous at all with 27.6% of respondents in the May survey claiming that compared to just 7.8% in the March survey.