TROY, NY - (BUSINESS WIRE) - 8/15/06 - Organizations within the U.S. industrial sector are investing within their companies to support growth, according to a recent survey of industrial and manufacturing professionals. These views were uncovered in the fifth annual Industrial Indicator Survey conducted by GlobalSpec, the leading specialized search engine, information services and e-publishing company for the engineering, industrial and technical communities.

38 percent of respondents indicated they will be adding headcount in 2006, while 35 percent are expanding sales into new markets and 28 percent are increasing sales and marketing spending. These results are offset by reductions in other areas, including spending and travel, and vendor consolidation, which grew by eight percentage points in 2006 over 2005.

Other results indicated uncertainty over increased costs among companies within the industrial sector. Raw material costs is an area of concern for 47 percent of respondents, while 15 percent stated it is the single biggest issue facing their company this year. Rising energy costs was cited by 40 percent of respondents as an area of increased focus, with 12 percent citing it as their greatest concern.

Overall, results of the survey imply optimism within the marketplace. More than 90 percent of survey respondents foresee their spending to increase or remain the same in the second half of 2006, as compared to the first half of the year. Additionally, 71 percent of companies anticipate their 2006 revenue will be ahead of 2005.

Additional findings from the GlobalSpec Fifth Annual Industrial Indicator Survey include:

• 83 percent of respondents say revenue projections for their company are ahead of or on target for 2006
• More than 50 percent of respondents reported that they are focused on or concerned about quality and improving production efficiencies
• Traditional forms of media – including printed trade magazines and trade shows – continue to show a decline among this audience

Access the survey results at http://www.globalspec.com/GSSurveyResults0706.

About GlobalSpec, Inc.
GlobalSpec, Inc. is the leading specialized vertical search, information services and e-publishing company serving the engineering, technical and industrial communities. GlobalSpec users benefit from domain-expert search engines, a broad range of proprietary and aggregated Web-based content and over 40 product-centric e-newsletters – helping them search for and locate products and services, learn about suppliers and access comprehensive technical content. SpecSearch®, GlobalSpec’s trademarked search technology, allows users to search by specification more than 138 million parts in 1,800,000 product families from more than 20,000 supplier catalogs. For suppliers, GlobalSpec offers highly filtered sales and marketing opportunities, product promotion and brand advertising platforms, and a wide range of e-media advertising and marketing solutions.

GlobalSpec, SpecSearch, The Engineering Search Engine and The Engineering Web are registered trademarks of GlobalSpec, Inc.

Contact:
GlobalSpec Marketing
E-mail: marketing@globalspec.com

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