Man, what a year.
Now that we’re here in December, it’s easy to say the year flew by – and fly by, it certainly did – but going through the year, there were times it felt like it would never end. It seemed like every week there was something new dominating the news and impacting businesses without discrimination.
Tariffs kicked off 2025 and were a persistent source of uncertainty throughout the year. The resulting rising costs of materials and hindered supply chain directly impacted the construction materials industry and its ability to source equipment and supply materials.
Add on the longest govenment shutdown in U.S. history near the end of the year (as of writing this, the Senate had just approved a budget deal to reopen the government and a House vote was upcoming), and 2025 will certainly go down as one of the more eventful years in recent history.
Despite all this, the overwhleming senitments about this year from producers, manufacturers, dealers and others were positive. Companies didn’t just stand pat – they thrived, and they expect more of the same next year.
Real-world results
If I had a dollar for everytime I’ve used the word “resilient” when talking about how construction materials companies navigate challenging operating environments, I’d be a 30-year-old retiree. It remains true, though, that the industry is a resilient and determined one, and those hallmarks were on full display this year.
I got to see two examples of this resilience first-hand, and you can read about them in this issue. In a visit to South Dakota, I attended the grand opening of Masaba’s new steel fabrication facility. The nearly 150,000-sq.-ft. facility is the result of a year and a half of planning and building, highlighting the strength Masaba is feeling as a company and its optimism about 2026 and beyond.
During another visit to eastern Pennsylvania, I met Zac Barbato and got to learn about his company, Keystone Crushing. Barbato has grown the company from crushing a few thousand tons in the early days to several hundred thousand tons this year. Like Masaba, Barbato has his sights set on growth in and out of the Keystone State.
2026 remains a blank slate and, as this year has shown, anything can happen. But as this year has also shown, no matter what comes to pass, the construction materials industry is going to keep going. And that’s a reassuring thought.
Featured image: Portable Plants Staff