January 2001 Editor's Page
News Flash

A bomb threat occurred at NACE2000, putting in jeapardy more than 200,000 square feet of autobody stuff, and tens of thousands of the industry's best and brightest lives. No explosion took place.

After a year that began with such mammoth expectations, quickly fizzled, and then remained mired in mediocrity to the end, it seems appropriate that we include an aborted bomb threat in this month's State of the Industry issue. (See page three.) It seems we spent most of 2000 waiting for the big bang to hit the industry, but in the end found ourselves stuck with little more than anxious silence.

Our cover story details how many factions of the industry found 2000's figures and vital signs to be very similar to those of 1999. And while, true, that does not signify a collapse of any sort, such staleness in what was once considered to be such a green pasture is enough to give one pause.

What will the coming year bring to our industry?

Wall Street also is very interested to see what the coming year holds for our industry. As discussed in this month's Investment Update, the industry's stocks have been sniffing a resurgence that to date has proved rather elusive. As we move into 2001, it is natural to wonder if such a resurgence is even visible in the near-future landscape. Will the blood stop flowing out of the industry's stock picture in 2001?

If you want a true picture of how our industry is doing overall, take a good look at this month's extended Market Watch review. There is a lot of information hidden in those numbers, so this Market Watch provides a nice snapshot of our world right now.

Getting back to that bomb threat, bombs weren't the only things not exploding at this year's NACE show. Despite much effort and expense to create a stir at the show, the dot-com ventures and other Internet-related outfits barely held a pulse at the show, as 30,000 attendees chose to mostly bypass their extensive exhibits. But at the least the folks attending NACE made a bit of their own excitement away from the show, as parties and concerts were smartly attended throughout the days of NACE.

In any event, we at INSIGHT have a feeling that 20001 is going to be a good year for everyone. Heck, at least we now know who our next president is going to be, huh? How much more good news could you ask for?