Jan Schafer Director of Market Research

Jan is a market research professional who loves learning and adding value to the businesses of Gardner’s advertisers, audience, and the company itself. Her curiosity, business knowledge, client service and shameless resourcefulness combine to enable Jan to lead research in manufacturing from objective-setting (do not even try to bypass it…) to delivering data-based recommendations (can’t dodge those either…) Jan attributes her capabilities to education in psychology and business administration followed by a healthy dose of ‘mixing it up.’ Her experience includes tending bar (more useful than you might expect,) early years (okay, 15!) at Procter & Gamble, developing her own consulting business, and leading supply-side research before landing the perfect gig at Gardner.

Economics

Composites activity contracted faster for the third month in a row

GBI: Composites Fabricating landed at 41.6, becoming one of the index’s more significant declines in 2024 so far.

Read More
Economics

Composites industry activity continued to contract faster in June

Composites Fabricating’s second month of contraction, also reflected in other industry segments, suggests larger factors are at play.  

Read More
Economics

Composites GBI shows faster activity contraction

The total index reading backed down in May from its anticipated expansion, contracting again to land at 46.8.

Read More
Economics

GBI activity knocks at the door of expansion in April

While the Composites Fabricating index still contracted in April, it continues to close in on a reading of 50, which indicates expansion.  

Read More
Economics

Composites industry activity meaningfully slowed contraction in March

The GBI: Composites Fabricating still contracted in March, though it landed just one point shy of 50, which could eventually lead it into expansion territory.

Read More
Economics

Composites industry GBI stayed the course in February

The GBI: Composites Fabricating contracted in February to the same degree as January, maintaining its position in a contraction zone.

Read More
Economics

Composites industry activity stayed steady in January

The GBI: Composites Fabricating contracted in January to about the same degree it did in December, representing a move in the right direction.

Read More
Economics

Composites industry gained back some ground in December

The GBI: Composites Fabricating contracted a little more slowly in December, landing between August and September 2023 values.

Read More
Economics

Composites industry heads into slightly accelerated contraction in November

The GBI: Composites Fabricating in November continued its general slow-going path of contraction that began in April 2023.

Read More
Economics

Composites industry saw stabilized contraction in October

The GBI: Composites Fabricating index has contracted for the seventh month in a row, with one notable change in component activity.

Read More
Economics

Composites activity returned with accelerated contraction in September

The GBI: Composites contracted faster again in September, closing down 1.6 points to 45.9, the lowest the index has been in more than 2 years.   

Read More
Economics

Contraction in composites industry activity slowed in August

The GBI: Composites contracted again in August, but closed up 1.1 points from July, ending 5 straight months of a downward trend.   

Read More
Composite raw materials
Alpha’s Premier ESR®