Presidential election draws discussion at 2020 P&Q Roundtable

The whirlwind of first-quarter industry meetings and trade shows is well underway by now, and some of the new year’s biggest events are nearing in February’s World of Concrete and March’s ConExpo-Con/Agg.

The Pit & Quarry team’s first 2020 travel took us to Fort Myers, Florida, where we hosted the annual Pit & Quarry Roundtable & Conference. This year’s Roundtable was the largest since the magazine launched the event in 1996, and it provided aggregate producers, equipment suppliers and industry stakeholders an opportunity to discuss ongoing challenges and the opportunities ahead.

The Roundtable also provided a venue to get a sense of the mood around the industry. The mood, not surprisingly, remains positive, with the majority of producers attending the Roundtable reporting year-over-year sales increases of at least 5 percent in 2019.

Most producers also expressed that they’re at least somewhat optimistic about 2020, and most suppliers say they possess some degree of optimism about the months ahead.

The presidential election

Presidential election talk is heating up as the primary elections approach. Photo: iStock.com/mphillips007

These are welcome sentiments in a year containing a presidential election and at a time when our government is as divided as it’s been in our lifetimes. Presidential election years are typically a time for pause, and this year could unfold in a variety of ways depending on how the 2020 race shapes up.

The aggregate industry, among many others, is hoping for the reelection of President Donald Trump. Ahead of the Roundtable, we asked producers to characterize the impact Trump’s reelection would have on their businesses. More than half say another four years of Trump would be extremely positive for their business, and the rest indicate the impact would be at least somewhat positive should he be reelected.

P&Q received similar feedback on the supply side, with 80-plus percent of suppliers saying the president’s reelection would impact them positively.

In addition, we asked Roundtable attendees about the impact should a Democrat win in November. Half of the producers say the result would be somewhat negative for business, with one-quarter indicating this outcome would be extremely negative for them. Suppliers largely agreed.

We’ll publish a special report with highlights from the Pit & Quarry Roundtable & Conference in our upcoming April 2020 edition, but find out what else you missed at the Jan. 14-15 event here.