Constructing Canada’s Economy
As economies across the globe continue to wildly ebb and flow, Canada’s has been growing at a slow, but steady pace. Recently, the Bank of Canada released its annual Monetary Policy Report, which stated that despite overwhelming, outside negative economic forces, Canada’s growth will continue.
When looking for solid indicators of an economy’s health, few barometers can top overall commercial construction. This forecast from 2011 predicts a very strong 2012, and, although it’s too early to tell how accurate the predictions are, all indications point to a positive outlook. With factors like lower office vacancies, relaxed lending conditions, strong retail and financial sectors, and record-high commercial building permits, it’s easy to see that this type of building in Canada will remain strong for the foreseeable future.
As you might imagine, it’s hard to build or maintain an office, laboratory, or bank without hinges, so it’s not too surprising that our products play a big role in every aspect of the construction industry. 
In fact, not only are our hinges found within the new structures going up all over Canada – they are often used in the construction equipment used to erect those structures as well. From brand-new office construction projects to replacing a competitors’ worn-out hinge on the lobby door, the experts at Larsen & Shaw often find themselves in the middle of everything. We’ve been a leading manufacturer of architectural products since 1919, and seeing how our hinges are made to last, there’s a good chance that whether you’re looking at one of those shiny new buildings, or a recently remodeled classic, you’ll find Larsen & Shaw products. Just on the off chance that your new (or old) office building doesn’t have one of our hinges, you can always check out our website for our full selection of industry leading hinges.
Everyone at Larsen & Shaw hopes that your 2012 is as positive and successful as we hope ours will be!
A Welcome, and A Recap: Our New Blog and the FABTECH Show
First off, hello! Thank you for visiting Larsen & Shaw’s blog, our newest and, we hope, best effort to reach out to you, our customers, and anyone interested in the manufacturing world. We look forward to spending time with you here and on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages, staying in contact and sharing information. With 2011 nearly behind us, 2012 promises to be an exciting year, both in our advances in community efforts and, of course, innovations in our metal stamping operations!
To that end, we’d like to share a bit about our experience in November at the FABTECH conference in Chicago. This show – the biggest in FABTECH’s history – offered us a great venue to sit in on some seminar presentations from metal fabrication experts, as well as to try out some hands-on equipment demonstrations. It’s important to us to make sure that we’re using the latest technology and equipment available to the metal stamping industry, passing on these benefits of ingenuity and efficiency to our customers. FABTECH not only confirmed that we remain at the forefront of metal stamping, but also provided valuable research in taking our efficiency and flexibility to the next level. Advancements in laser technology, robotics, and stamping and forming equipment will revolutionize our industry, in all areas from services provided to methods of doing business.
We’re beyond excited about these developments and the opportunity to share them with you, in 2012 and over the next five years and beyond. Staying at the forefront of this revolution will provide some great stories for this blog, and we hope you’ll be in touch, whether here or on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, to share your own.
