The Biggest Stories of 2009

Happy holidays to you all! I know I’m very much looking forward to New Year’s Eve festivities (if you can’t imagine why I might be excited about 2010, you may want to watch our recent newscast!) and am already hoping that the new year has good things in store for our industry. Being prone to reflection, I can’t help but take some time now to look back at the year drawing to a close. Last year the contributing editors of USGNN.com™ each offered their take on the top stories of 2008, and this year I thought I’d ask for your input.

For my part, I think it’s easy to say that the economy has remained at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Obviously one high-profile bankruptcy has been leading the headlines of late, but we’ve run numerous stories throughout the year about several large fabrication and manufacturing facilities closing due to the economy. On the other hand, I’ve been surprised by how many stories we’ve also run about smaller fabricators growing into new markets and expanding their businesses. I think the story for 2010, perhaps 2011, may be about some of the smaller companies rising to the top of the industry supply chain.

We’ve also looked at a couple of the headline-making stories of 2008 that grew more quietly in 2009. For example, BIM wasn’t quite the magic word this year that it was last year—at least not for subcontractors—but the number of glass product suppliers listed in BIM libraries had grown exponentially from when we had first reported on this trend. Also, by 2009 it seemed that the word solar was becoming better understood; that is, while solar energy remained a hot topic for the glass industry, more speakers on this topic have offered words of caution rather than unbridled optimism.

As far as trends to come, in the scattered days I’ve been at work this month (between the holidays and some surprising snow days), I’ve been following up on what’s shaping up to be a big trend for at least early 2010: the business opportunities in energy efficiency retrofits. Green’s continuing as a money-making trend that could help commercial glass suppliers and installers keep plenty busy as new construction starts slow. (If this is a trend you’re noticing, please let me know.)

And there are a couple trends we at USGlass have been very much impacted by. I mentioned our newscast at the beginning of this blog, but the newscast is simply one of a multitude of ways we’ve been growing online. At the recent BETEC Symposium, I found myself taking notes and snapping photos for our newsletter and print stories; shooting video footage to use in that newscast; and tweeting highlights from the presentations. What is surprising is that the online mutlti-tasking is hardly a media trend—glass businesses have been jumping online in increasingly new and creative ways this year as well.

So now it’s your turn. What would you say was the headline of 2009? What about the biggest trend? Please share your comments here.

And for a similar take, check out DWM editor Tara Taffera's blog.