Editor's Message: Welcome Back to Indy!

Much has changed since the last time BCMC was here

BCMC was last held in Indianapolis in 2011, which for many was one of the worst years in a prolonged succession of extremely bad years for business. For comparison, in 2021 there were nearly three times as many housing units started than in 2011!

The BCMC show attendance reflected the depressed industry (pun intended). In 2006, 1,518 component manufacturers attended BCMC, but just five years later only 278 attendees walked the exhibit floor. In many ways, it’s remarkable that the show survived such massive and swift attrition. If it hadn’t been for a quick pivot in 2012 to a tabletop show (see page 30 of digital edition) and then back to an equipment show in 2013, it’s possible BCMC would not be around to return to Indy this year.

Things are clearly much different today. Annual attendance is nearing pre-Great Recession levels. With the incorporation of the National Framers Council’s Framer Summit (FS), BCMC has expanded to represent the entire structural framing industry under one roof. The exhibit hall continues to grow and evolve, featuring both a “framers alley” and our very first SBCA Innovation Grant winner. The largest single booth on the show floor doesn’t even belong to a metal connectorplate manufacturer!

In 2011, a small group of attendees could race their adult trikes (yes, it was a thing) all the way around the perimeter of the 16,000 square-foot exhibit hall in just a few minutes. This year in Indianapolis, attendees will find it challenging to make it all the way around the 66,500 square-foot show floor in just two days.

Indeed, BCMC’s return to Indianapolis is something to celebrate. Not only is SBCA turning 40 years old, an anniversary that will be noted throughout the convention center, but the light-frame construction industry continues to increase its reliance on the structural framing solutions the industry supplies. That growing dependence is reflected in the variety and sophistication of the BCMC exhibitors and the many education session topics offered throughout the week.

As you walk through the show floor this year, take a moment to marvel at just how far the industry has come since BCMC 2011.

Sean D. Shields, Managing Editor