We are rapidly and thankfully bringing to a close what for many of us will be one of the most tumultuous years in memory — a time when economic, financial, and political upheaval have tested our best instincts and have reset the stage for most of us, complicating and intensifying an already uncertain business environment.

The times in which we live and do business compel us to seek community … to stay connected … to stay informed … to share experiences … to promote our livelihoods … and to provide the type of institutional support that can keep us prepared to confront the challenges that are unique to these times.

In any economy, we all positively respond to those that take the meaning of “value” seriously and try to focus on our distinctive needs.

THE ASSOCIATION ABIDES

ABMA has weathered two world wars, a Great Depression, and now a Great Recession. Through it all, ABMA has worked very hard and will continue to strive to promote that vital sense of community and connection — to bring to its members and everyone in the boiler and combustion equipment market place a continuing value and commitment to staying ahead of the curve in evaluating and addressing the trends, issues, and concerns most important to our community.

Whether it’s through the most accurate, boiler market-focused economic forecasts and analyses obtainable anywhere for the money; through timely and relevant e-newsletters that dissect not only what is happening but why it’s important; through market-watch sales and data-report statistics; through educational networking opportunities; through market saturation support from our advertising and free buyers guide programs; or through just old-fashioned expert-staff responsiveness to out-of-the-way inquiries and needs posed by a changing business climate, ABMA will be here for its members as we help them chart their way through some turbulent times.

And on behalf of our members, ABMA is unrelenting in its advocacy for and promotion of this irreplaceable state-of-the-art, highly efficient, fuel-flexible boiler-generated steam and hot water equipment industry.

THE NEXT STAGE

Contrary to the claims of the cynical and the cable-TV rabblerousers, American capitalism is alive and well and, as with lesser recessions, is being rebalanced, reregulated, and restored. Take time, then, to reaffirm your confidence in our fundamental strength and resourcefulness as a nation.

A long road still lies ahead, and as a nation, we have yet to comprehensively and rationally address some long-neglected deferred-maintenance issues. Therein lay the upcoming challenges to (and opportunities for) the boiler-generated steam and hot water industry.

As in times past and regardless of the depths of calamity, the commercial, institutional, industrial, and electricity-generating boiler and combustion equipment industry has always risen from the ashes of adversity a much stronger, leaner, more competitive and uniquely innovative entity than ever before. So it shall be this time.

[A BELATED NOTE OF THANKS: The first issue of Today’s Boiler published last spring drew rave reviews, and for that we thank you. We look to grow in the future and appreciate your continuing support as we do.]