ISA’s annual State of the Industry survey shows solid growth in the last quarter of 2013 and first quarter of 2014.
More than 40% of sign company CEOs said their businesses had grown more than 10% during that time period. They also felt their businesses would grow significantly throughout 2014 into 2015. CEOs of ISA member companies were even more optimistic about the coming year.
“Each year, ISA’s State of the Industry survey provides a snapshot of how companies feel about their businesses and the industry in general,” said Lori Anderson, ISA president and CEO. “It’s clear that overall, sign companies are excited about the potential, anticipating growth in their business, and expecting to purchase new equipment and hire new employees.”
Other key findings:
Just over half of CEOs surveyed (51.4%) expected to grow by double digits in the coming year, compared to 49 percent in last year’s survey. Less than one percent expect a flat or negative year compared to nearly 16% in 2013. CEOs of ISA-member companies all anticipate growth in excess of 6%, with 53.8% expecting double-digit growth.
Growth is fairly well spread throughout the industry with 48.7% of sign company CEOs anticipating double-digit growth—about the same number as end users/others (48.2%). All CEOs of suppliers and distributors anticipate double-digit growth in 2014.
68% say they definitely or probably will purchase new equipment in the coming year. The rest are unsure. In 2013, nearly one-third said they probably would not or definitely not purchase equipment.
71% of ISA member company CEOs said they would add new staff in the coming year, compared to 65% of all companies. In 2013, 58% said they expected to hire.
Finding qualified workers remains the most significant challenge impacting the workforce.
The state/local regulatory environment is getting better, with 26% of respondents seeing improvement, compared to 8.6% in 2013.
The International Sign Association
www.signs.org
