Last year, the industry began 2020 concerned about global trade. In 2021, it's a global pandemic. Responses to the coronavirus invasion deeply disrupted the economy, which had been humming along with increased employment and talk of finally addressing infrastructure spending. But even as construction was labeled an "essential" business, meaning companies could continue to work, the backlog for new construction work was slowing. Any project dependent upon government funding fell under a cloud as tax revenues dropped at the state and local levels, and the costs of responding to the pandemic increased.Responses to our survey came in just prior to the national elections, increasing, perhaps, the level of uncertainly among respondents but also causing more equipment managers to participate. About 400 equipment asset managers responded to this year's questionnaire.
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