2020 in Review: The Highs and Lows and Everything In Between

By METALCON. 

Read our year in review to see the lessons we’ve learned and what we’re taking with us into the future. 

2020 has been a year unlike any other in recent history. While it began like most, with a sense of excitement and optimism, it soon became a year full of disruptive change, intense weather and tragic loss. While it is customary for METALCON to perform a yearly review, everyone in our team felt this year deserved a little more attention.  

Throughout METALCON’s 30-year history, the Metal Construction and Design Industry has weathered many storms, but this year is one for the record books. The year began like most with our team excitedly planning METALCON’s 30th anniversary event. The construction industry had a strong first quarter, and the future looked bright. By March, it all came to a screeching halt as COVID-19 hit and the world went into an unprecedented “lock-down.” 

While postponing METALCON until October 6-8, 2021 in Tampa, Florida was a tough decision, we took the opportunity to launch METALCONLive!, a business-boosting broadcast delivering education and intelligence to the Metal Construction and Design Industry. 

As we end the year, by most accounts, the industry has fared better than most. Despite the “stall” during quarantine, the work continued, setting record home improvement projects and new home sales. Market indicators are varied with U.S. construction spending (put-in-place investment) reporting a 1.9% increase from 2019 to 2020, yet the AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) is seeing its sharpest decline in years.

During October’s METALCONLive! Industry Trends panel, the experts agreed that the back-log created by the previous year helped the industry push through, and are cautiously looking ahead to 2021 given the number of uncertainties still unfolding. Panelist Paul Giovannoni with FMI, advised, “There is reason to be concerned" as he is starting to see a gap in project pipelines. And, according to AIA’s November report, while architecture firm billings declined for the ninth consecutive month, firms are modestly optimistic. As we closed the books on 2020, we knew we would weather these uncharted waters as we rolled up our sleeves and turned our focus to METALCON 2021. 

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