SIMA sponsors report measuring scope of industry

'In SIMA’s process of building professionalism and best practices, we need to better understand who we are. Having this first impact report is a step toward this knowledge acquisition.'

By Martin Tirado, CAE
$23 billion. That’s roughly the market size of the private snow and ice management industry in the United States and Canada combined, according to the first-of-its-kind impact report sponsored by SIMA. 

The purpose of producing this report was simple: Generally, there is a complete lack of essential information on size, scope, demographics and economic impact in the private snow and ice management industry. Thus, SIMA contracted with an experienced researcher, WolfWorks Consulting, to uncover this information. We found that knowledge of the market is critical to understanding the current state of the industry. Once acknowledged, benchmarks and trends can be built upon the baseline data and decisions made on how our market impacts all of us. In SIMA’s process of building professionalism and best practices, we need to better understand who we are. Having this first impact report is a step toward this knowledge acquisition. 

The strategy now for SIMA is to discover what’s next. We want to hear from you about what information was useful in the impact report and where information is still lacking. We will work to analyze what information can be used at a local level to help SIMA members successfully operate their businesses.

This will not be easy since the impact report confirms that the industry is exceptionally fragmented. The top four largest operators account for less than 5% of overall revenue. With an industry of more than 22,000, we see an opportunity to grow the association and bring value to a greater number of snow and ice management professionals. We will continue to lead the industry and need make clear, convincing value propositions for more membership participation.

A few demographics measured in the impact report:

• A ‘Top 10’ list of the largest U.S. states in overall market size.
• Total snowplow service operators, including how many are employers vs. sole proprietors.
• Amount of paved surfaces in square miles, including total parking spaces and facilities.
• Percentage of snow and ice services for companies with multiple lines of business (landscaping, exterior maintenance, etc.)

An executive summary of the report is available to download here. A full report and webinar addressing the findings will be available in late August.