Welcome to the third annual CE News Buyers’ Guide, which provides categorical and alphabetical listings of civil engineering products and services of all types. This special issue is a handy reference that will assist you in finding beneficial products to apply to your firm’s projects or services in the coming year.

Soon you’ll be able to access all of the listings contained in this guide through a brand new Web resource called The Directory—a searchable, online database launching later this month. Check it out at www.cenews.com/directory. Since updates and new products and services will be added regularly, bookmark the website and visit it frequently.

By the way, if you work for a product or service company that isn’t included in this print guide, but you think it should be going forward, you are invited to create a free listing for the online directory. Select the tab "Update your listing" to get started. Your listing will be included in the online directory and, if you keep your listing up-to-date, you’ll be included in next year’s print guide.

This year’s print guide also includes a comprehensive listing of civil engineering-related industry associations. Additionally, we’ve organized a thorough list of pertinent events for the coming year, so you can plan ahead for potential speaking opportunities or learning and networking events.

Knowing our readers wouldn’t want to miss a month with an article devoted to the "business of civil engineering," we also present the results of an exciting research study CE News conducted in March. Editor Bob Drake reveals our readers’ perspectives on the state of the industry, expectations for the future, and more in "Weathering the storm: Civil engineers express pessimism in the current economy but hold hope for recovery in 2010."

We asked a range of questions in the survey, including Gallup Poll-type questions about the state of the economy in general, and questions about topics specific to civil engineering such as the current conditions and predictions about industry sectors, firm performance, and personal job satisfaction. We took the industry’s pulse when it comes to President Obama’s stimulus package, and determined how firms plan to adjust their service mix to respond to the increased interest in infrastructure rebuilding.

Not only is a survey project like this valuable to provide essentials for a great article, but it also helps us as editors keep abreast of our readers’ interests and proclivities. For example, we asked, "Given the state of the industry and the projects in your portfolio, which of the following product types would you like to learn more about?" Stormwater (53 percent) and erosion and sediment control (50 percent) topped the list. Transportation (44 percent) and sewer rehabilitation (34 percent) followed.

Further, we were so pleased to learn that the most popular way that respondents educate themselves about products that they could specify on civil engineering projects is to "read new product information in printed publications." Likewise, this is the method of choice for keeping current on what software technology is available.

Such feedback helps CE News deliver timely and targeted articles to meet your needs. Of course, letters from our readers with comments, suggestions, and reactions are always welcome! Write to sfauerbach@stagnitomedia.com to share your opinions and ideas any time.