It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

No, it’s not yet the official holiday season, but fall has always been my favorite time of year. I love the colors in the trees and the crispness in the air. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to love all the seasons, but fall is still leading the pack for me. It’s the nostalgia of back-to-school season (I was a nerd who loved school), Halloween, the VMA Annual meeting and planning for the next year. All of these have me excited!

Fall is a season of planning and looking ahead while acknowledging the past year for many of us. I’ve had some personal changes, including now being part of the VMA staff, and professionally have tried to stay on top of all the changes brought about by the Trump administration and the impact it will have on all of you and our industry. Priorities shifting from renewables back to oil and gas means opportunity for refineries, extending the life of existing fossil-fueled plants and even repowering shuttered plants to get them back online. The Administration's focus on driving American manufacturing on American soil also means increased reliance on U.S. foundries, as discussed in the article on page X.

In our recent Market Outlook Workshop and at the VMA annual meeting, the power market and powering all the new technology in our world was a hot topic. Did you know that the average large data center being built today requires the same amount of energy on average that it takes to power 12,000 homes? With thousands of these under construction in the U.S. and around the world, there is an enormous opportunity for valve and all flow control manufacturers to not only power the grid, but to cool and power these data centers and all the fluid systems that go into them. Page X provides more insights into key markets shared during the Market Outlook Workshop for the flow control industry.

Geopolitics continues to be a hot topic and was discussed in depth at the VMA Annual Meeting. The impact of tariffs, according to one speaker, isn’t truly felt for 9-18 months. Since there has been so much uncertainty with the levying then lifting of tariffs, and the changing tariff amounts, it seems safe to say most of you still don’t know just how deeply they are impacting your business today, or how the impact will continue to roll out.

As the year wraps up and we begin planning for 2026, we are looking for ways to better serve our readers of this magazine and members of VMA. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you! But for now, happy fall and happy holidays to you and yours, and thanks for being here!

Cheers!

Heather