EquiNova Capital Partners‘ Walter Kurek (in photo above, left) and Michael Collins joined more than 9,400 other participants in Dallas earlier this month for GlassBuild America. With that audience and 535 exhibiting companies, it was the biggest show in 16 years. We spoke with industry experts and left Dallas with these thoughts:

• Industry participants from all over the country reported that their businesses had stabilized (after being down vs. last year so far this year) and that they were seeing signs 2025 will be a strong year. We literally didn’t talk to anyone who had a negative outlook for 2025. Some people mentioned the election, but mostly from the standpoint of looking forward to the campaign season being over.

• *Many cited the positive impact of the recent rate cut. One person mentioned that equipment manufacturers–who typically sell machines for $250,000 up to the low millions of dollars–had seen orders immediately upon the announcement of the rate cut. Not only does a reduced interest rate make machinery more affordable, it was seen as a positive sign for the overall market.

• Several groups indicated that they had started taking orders for 2025’s first quarter and that various customers had large projects (such as multi-family developments) that were getting green-lighted because of the rate cut and improved market conditions.

• Excecutive recruiters are busy and seeing increased ability to attract employees to relocate as mortgage costs decrease.

• Various companies we talked to were getting creative with new distribution channels and were building relationships with OEMs that are utilizing their components as a means of continued growth.