Thinking Global – Talking Local

Traditionally CONTRACTOR kicks off the new year by naming our Contractor of the Year, and this year it is Chicagoland’s own Terry Plumbing Co. You can read about how the TPC management team took a company of ten employees that was on its back foot and grew it into a thriving company of between 55 and 85 (depending on the season) starting on pg. 20.  

I first met that team, the Castrogiovannis (President Kelly and Vice President Luke), this October at the annual PHCC Connect conference in Birmingham, Alabama. We shared a table at the Awards Breakfast and Officers Installation ceremony.

In between presentations they brought me up to speed on the state of business in the city (which had been down) and some of their chief concerns (finding enough skilled workers, and a recent rash of robberies that cost them and other contracting companies valuable tools and materials).  

The Castrogiovannis impressed me, not just because they were friendly and outgoing, but because they were so active in the industry through their involvement in the Plumbing Contractors Association. For all the demands running a plumbing business involves, they made the time to serve; to help run the association, to share best practices, and to build community connections. To do the tough work that ultimately leads to greater success for everyone in the business. We’re very proud to name them our Contractor of the Year, and hope more companies follow their good example.

But meeting them reminded me that the big picture isn’t everyone’s picture. CONTRACTOR is a national publication with more than 48,000 print subscribers across the US. I tend to report on the national news and follow national organization such as the PHCC, the MCAA, ASPE and the like.

You can find a prime example of that kind of reporting starting on pg. 6 of this issue, our Industry Economic Forecast. In it I look at different economic indicators, speculate on possible regulation and policy changes, and ponder what it all might mean for contractors in the coming year.

But not all contracting companies are the same. Larger companies have benefitted from three important trends: infrastructure investment, the boom in data center construction, and the re-shoring of American manufacturing. Meanwhile, some smaller companies have fallen on hard times.

Combine tough times for smaller operations, a generation of plumbers looking to retire, and a new breed of private equity companies looking to invest in home services, and we might be looking at an unprecedented wave of consolidation. What might that mean for the profession? How might that change what it means to be a plumber?

Last month I hinted that 2025 would see some changes for CONTRACTOR. Well, one of them will be trying to publish more stories with a regional and local perspective. We can and will still deliver that big-picture, national perspective, but getting in the trenches with individual contractors can only help us to deliver a more accurate view of what is an extremely complex industry.  

Lastly, while we’re talking about changes, I want to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation to our long-time Art Director Susan Lakin, who will be leaving the magazine with this issue. She has produced some of the most visually stunning pages in the 70-year history of the publication, often under very tight deadlines. I wish her success and happiness in whatever the next chapter holds.

Happy New Year to all our readers! If you’re heading to Orlando for the AHR Expo, be sure visit our booth in the West Building, #2261.