Pit & Quarry, December 2010

by brian richesson Taking a swipe at better information Changing technology will help attendees and exhibitors at ConExpo Con Agg and IFPE 2011 on March 22 26 in Las Vegas An improved lead retrieval system will help attendees and exhibitors more conveniently exchange business information the Association of Equipment Manufacturers AEM announced Bar codes on the badge replace a separate swipe card previously used And radio frequency identification RFID booth traffic analysis will more effectively communicate attendee needs and interests to show management and exhibitors AEM notes that this changing technology allows show management to be more efficient in the badge process as well as more green by reducing waste AEM is partnering with event management solutions providers Experient and Alliance Tech to offer the advancements The barcode badge system saves time for attendees who want to keep track of which booths companies they visited while at the show and who want to share follow up contact information with exhibitors And exhibitors using the RFID add on to the lead retrieval system will be able to boost their return on investment by gaining insights into booth traffic patterns Incorporating RFID technology which measures booth interaction traffic real time with accurate web based analytics will provide show management with an opportunity to better understand the preferences of our attendees and will offer participating exhibitors the ability to increase the value of their show participation stated Megan Tanel AEM vice president of exhibitions and events F I R S T OF MONTH OP ENING NOV OCT Cemex SA 879 856 Eagle Materials 2344 2369 MDU Resources 2000 2016 Martin Marietta Materials 8121 7788 Texas Industries 3442 3194 Vulcan Materials 3667 3728 Source Yahoo Finance AggregAtes ForecAst The chart shows two scenarios developed from the DCG Inc county based aggregates forecasting system Each scenario is based on a set of policies that will impact the direction of the U S economy over the next 10 years By 2014 there is greater than a 30 percent difference between the two scenarios 24 billion vs 17 billion metric tons The Lost Decade scenario also can be called the command and control path This scenario is close to our current path of high deficits high taxes more rules and regulations and temporary stimulus efforts by the Federal Reserve With these policies GDP rarely grows faster than 2 percent and unemployment remains above 8 percent The Pro Growth scenario is not our current path This scenario includes a significant change in policies that will encourage investment Some of the required policies are much lower taxes on capital gains dividends and corporate taxes plus less government spending Rapid growth comes from entrepreneurs capital investment and innovators DCG Aggregates Forecast Scenarios 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Lost Decade Pro Growth Billion Metric Tons 35 30 25 20 15 10 Every society that has had rapid private economic growth has included these elements even China The reauthorization of the federal highway bill while important is secondary to restoring rapid economic growth Rapid economic growth produces rapid tax receipts which make infrastructure spending possible So which path will we take Our assessment is that the Pro Growth path has a 55 percent chance of occurring while the Lost Decade path has a 45 percent probability that is they are almost even David Chereb David Chereb has many years of experience forecasting construction materials He received his Ph D in economics from the University of Southern California He can be reached at dc@ davidcherebgroup com 4 PIT QUARRY December 2010 www pitandquarry com