The theme of this year’s Exchange was “Inspiring Ingenuity,” and ingenuity was definitely demonstrated in the hundreds of workshops, short courses and technology and industry forums held over the five days.

The event started off with an address by Steve Sonnenberg, executive vice president of Emerson and president of Emerson Process Management. He reminded the assemblage of more than 3,200 people what it was like to be a child, when the sky was the limit and we felt that everything was possible. He encouraged everyone to remember how it felt to let our imagination run free, and allow that spark to spur ingenuity.

A comprehensive report on VMA’s annual Market Outlook event held in Boston is being featured in the Fall 2014 issue of VALVE Magazine. But there was much more information disseminated at the workshop than could be fit into the pages available, so here is our report on the U.S. and international economic forecasts shared during the event.

It was record attendance at this year’s Market Outlook Workshop with more than 125 people from both VMA and the Hydraulic Institute gathered at the historic Langham Hotel in Boston.

Opening the meeting was Thomas Decker, VP and Atlantic Coast Area leader of Brown and Caldwell, who asked attendees if they thought the water and wastewater market was represented by the title of the classic novel, “Watership Down.” His response: It’s not quite that bad.

The use of automated valves has increased continuously as the global demand for industrial and municipal infrastructure has grown around the world. Many developing countries have seen significant investment in both the private and public sectors which often involves building or expanding automated plants.