SPFA Updates Plus SPF Worldwide Forecast

During the General Session on Thursday, attendees heard about what the SPFA committees have been up to and what's on the horizon. They also heard the SPF world report from Rob Outram, IAL Consultants.

Kurt Riesenberg, SPFA Executive Director, set the tone for the General Session with some great news: "The show is growing and at the show there has been a lot of energy and excitement for the growth of foam." He mentioned the registration numbers were at record levels and still climbing. Also, the Breakout Sessions have been a hit. "There have been some of the most fantastic sessions this year. We have more sessions than we’ve ever had." 

A theme of this year's expo has been "history," and along those lines he encouraged everyone to read the SPFA history articles in SPRAYFOAM Professional (Part 1 and Part 2).  "I think it is important to pay attention to history.. The danger is if you don’t know the narrative of your own history, you are going to repeat it." He went on to explain that "people who have battle scars on them from the past.. they form the fabric of the association today."

Rob Outram's "Global Overview of the SPF Industry" was further positive news for SPF. "The NAFTA sprayfoam market Is in really good shape," he said. "Construction is the key driver; demand is still largely driven by renovation of existing buildings and weatherization projects." He said the Canadian market grew in 2015 too, though U.S. has resumed its position as the fastest growing SPF producer.. 

 

When IAL compiles these reports, "we do hundreds of interviews," explained Rob. And the amount of data is almost impossible to cover in a 20-minute presentation. However, the coverage is appreciated. "This is the best presentation every year. It is fantastic," said Chris Gallagher of Air Products and Chemicals.

To contact Rob for a copy of the material he covered, his email is routram@brggroup.com.

Some other highlights from the General Session:

- SPFA Technical Director Rick Duncan shared committee updates, which will be posted to the SPFA website shortly..

- Joe Bolduc earned the Workhorse of the Year Award.

- Bonnie Strickler let us know that over 2,000 PCP written exams have now been taken and there was an audit of PCP and "it passed with flying colors " 

- At Sprayfoam 2016, 52 Field Exams were taken and, as of Thursday morning, 98 written exams.

- The Expo Hall has 90+ exhibitors.

- As of Thursday morning, there were 1,412 registered attendees at Sprayfoam 2016. There were just under 200 on-site registrations on Wednesday, said Todd Henderson of the Convention Committee.