Say Goodbye to 2009 — Get Ready for 2010!

As I travel around the country visiting with NUCA members, I often hear the same sentiment, “I can’t wait for 2009 to be over.” The truth is that for many contractors, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, 2009 was indeed a tough year for survival. To quote Robert H. Schuller “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”
I realize that to survive, tough decisions were made as we all, including NUCA, became leaner organizations. One might say that 2009 was the year when everyone did more with less. In business, making the right decisions at the right time leads to survival. Though some NUCA members did not survive, the vast majority of members made it though. 2009 will go down as a year we all want to fade into history.

Since there is no point in dwelling on the past, we need to look forward to 2010.

The good news is that NUCA members are now poised for growth. The lessons learned during the last couple of years will prepare us for the future. Nobody knows for sure what 2010 will bring, due to the vast array of economic variables. We have both internal and external influences, which can influence things for the better or the worse. Economists site several indicators of economic growth including a modest growth in the American economy.
The stock market is slowly creeping up, and foreign economies are also improving.

While it is easy to be pessimistic after the past couple of years, I would rather view the glass as half full and getting fuller.

NUCA is constantly focused on congressional funding issues and the recent signing of the FY 2010 SRF Appropriations with $2.1 billion and $1.38 billion for the Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF programs is a positive sign for 2010. NUCA is the leading organization lobbying for these funds and the lone organization to testify before the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, demanding sewer and water infrastructure spending to restore American jobs. In addition, there is another $157 million in grant monies plus the $6 billion in ARRA funding slated for 2010. New home sales are starting to edge forward due to the federal $8,000 tax credit, which is an important indicator for private work contractors. These are all indeed positive signs.

The recession is far from over, but surviving 2009 insures that we are now ready to tackle 2010. Remain tough and keep thinking the glass is half full and that better times are ahead.


     Lyle Schellenberg