The Consultant - Q1 2009 - (Page 39) IN T E RN AT ION A L M A RK E T PE RSPEC T I V E S United States With the global financial system in its greatest crisis since the Great Depression and national economies falling quickly into recession, the pressures on professionals in the foodservice equipment distribution channel are the most severe within living memory. Mitchell Schechter speaks to some the industry’s most business-savvy consultants, equipment manufacturers, dealers and reps to find out how their firms and professions are coping with the turmoil and what they believe will happen in the U.S. E&S distribution channel during 2009. “Wither” The Distribution Channel? By Mitchell Schechter ith a national client base, a growing project list in Asia and the Middle East, and a locally buoyant economy, foodservice design consultants Clevenger Associates of Puyallup, WA, has yet to be seriously affected by the financial downturn in the U.S. Nonetheless, according to principal/owner, Tony Clevenger, more and more hospitality market projects are being put on hold and public sector RFPs are rapidly diminishing. W “The slowdown in hotel and casino jobs is directly linked to the credit crisis and will probably continue until lending and borrowing can return to pre-crisis levels,” commented Clevenger, who is also a partner in the design consultancy Clevenger Frable Lavallee, White Plains, NY. “We’re still doing B&I projects here in the Pacific Northwest, but the shrinking tax base, due to housing foreclosures and growing unemployment, is definitely beginning to reduce publically First Quarter 2009 39
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