The 2010 NFPA Industry and Economic Outlook Conference is currently taking place in Wheeling, IL. The first day included a fabulous golf outing at Chevy Chase golf course in Wheeling. This provided an excellent format for industry networking and renewing of acquaintenances.
The second day of the annual event was kicked off with announcements by current Board Chairman, Greg Willard of Quality Control Corp. The first economist on the schedule was NFPA favorite Alan Beaulieu of Institue for Trends Research. His presentation was mostly optimistic with all signs pointing toward continued recovery for the overall economy and including the fluid power economy.
This is great news for the attendees who are mostly manufacturers and distributors of fluid power components. Our industry survived a deep recession with several of our key user markets severely strained during 2008 second half and 2009.
Hopefully, the news and reports shared this week will continue to lift the confidence of our industry. Again, Alan reminded the audience of the importance of marketing and advertising and the time is still ripe for increased efforts there.
