Future Ready

At the time of this writing, the Federal Reserve is preparing for its September meeting, where, likely, an interest rate cut will occur. In anticipation of this probability, total commercial construction starts jumped 10% in July after an early summer slump, according to Dodge Construction Network. Infrastructure construction and nonresidential sectors, such as retail, office and warehouse projects, saw the biggest surges, reported Dodge. Interestingly, three of the five biggest July groundbreakings happened in the South: a US$2.1 billion Novo Nordisk plant in Claton, North Carolina; a US$1.6 billion first phase of the AWS Amazon data center in Canton, Mississippi; and an US$800 million Meta data center in Montgomery, Alabama. A Potomac River Tunnel project in Washington, D.C., and an offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island round out the top five. The work is spread throughout the country and varied, and with lowering interest rates, hopefully, only increasing. 

This is good news for our industry, certainly, but it always brings us back to the question of manpower and do we have enough of it now and will we in the future. 

In this issue, NEII Executive Director Amy Blankenbiller writes about the annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference held in Atlanta this summer and the integral part it can play in developing a talent pipeline for the VT industry. SkillsUSA is a career and technical organization serving more than 400,000 middle school, high school, college and professional members enrolled in training programs for trade, technical and skilled service occupations. NEII and NEIEP spent time with thousands of students and advisors at this year’s event, and according to Blankenbiller, “The consensus among NEII staff and member company representatives is SkillsUSA is the elevator industry’s premier outreach and recruiting opportunity for skilled trades students every year.” She explains more about why in Inside the Future of the Elevator Workforce. 

Our features this month include:

• Detroit Reborn by Senior Associate Editor Kaija Wilkinson. Barker Mohandas consultants describe the one-of-a-kind VT system serving the new Hudson’s Detroit mixed-use development in the heart of the Motor City. 
• Man of Many Talents by Wilkinson. Chicagoland’s Gerry Adams says goodbye to the VT industry after a 16-year career at Adams Elevator.  
• A Cable Car at the Foot of the Dolomite Alps by EW Correspondent Carmen Maldacena. Built a century ago in the Italian city of Trento, the cable car Funivia Trento-Monte Sardagna provides wonderful sights. 

We also focus on the important topic of Special-Operation Lifts this month and share four articles on the subject:

• Evacuation Lift Standardization by Ari Kattainen. A look at the status of international standards that may be used for building evacuation.
• A Remarkable Transformation submitted by Stannah. In this Project Spotlight, Stannah installs new lifts, including a firefighting lift with dedicated control features to aid fire and rescue service.  
• On the Move With Khrystyna Cusimano by Wilkinson. How a marine scientist went from accessibility to VRCs and more as Pflow’s western regional manager. 

The Evolution and Future of Special-Operation Lifts in Modern Facilities by Zeidan Loutfi. A look at the elevator’s place in modern times and future trends. 

This issue, we also offer an in-depth Industry Dialogue. In A VT Conversation in London, EW Correspondent Madeleine Olausson talks with Samu Salmelin, KONE’s head of Major Projects in Great Britain, about VT trends and sustainability. Our cover photo comes from this article, KONE UltraRope® in a lift shaft. 

As always, there is much more, including technical articles and project spotlights from around the world. We hope you enjoy the magazine this month. Want to tell me about it? Contact me at ricia@elevatorworld.com.