It is easy to get wrapped up in day-to-day business activities and thus fail to appreciate the bigger picture that is our storm water and erosion control industry. This issue’s State of the Industry report—Storm Water Solutions’ third annual—presents an ideal opportunity for taking a rare moment to minimize our e-mail windows, let voice mail do its job and reflect on where we are and where we are headed as a whole.
SWS compiled its 2011 State of the Industry Report using data provided by online survey respondents. For the second consecutive year, you rated regulations and compliance, storm water management/flood control and the economy as the three topics that will be most important to your organization in the coming year, the only shift being in their ranking. (The order last year was the economy first, regulations and compliance second, and storm water management/flood control third.)
Thirty-seven percent of you are working with an organizational budget of less than $100,000, and 25% with $1 million or more—the same distributions as in 2010. As for how these dollars will be spent, 56% of you are planning new storm water construction in the coming two years and another 38% plan to upgrade existing facilities in this same time frame. Both of these numbers indicate increasing project activity compared to 2010 data. Pipes, fittings and inspection/rehab; concrete products; sewer/drainage systems; and street cleaning are the most commonly used products and services, according to our research, and rainwater harvesting and reuse, equipment leasing/renting and education resources show the greatest purchase potential in the coming couple of years.
The storm water and erosion control industry looks to have reached a point of steadiness, and signs of evolution and growth are evident. Turn to SWS’ comprehensive resources—print issues, e-newsletters, estormwater.com, webinars, social media pages and more—for up-to-date, year-round coverage of developments. And please do not hesitate to share your questions, comments and success stories at [email protected].
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