2020 State of the Snow Industry

It’s been a crazy year to say the least. Not only was the industry hampered by another low-snow, low-event winter, but just past the mid-winter point, we experienced the onslaught of a global pandemic that impacted every business in our economy.

As commercial and retail businesses furloughed workers and closed offices and manufacturing plants, many of you were concerned that, even if it did begin snowing again, would your services be needed? Or worse, would your clients have the means to continue paying for services? The implications of an economic and financial domino effect were appalling.

While it’s fair to say no one was left unscathed by COVID-19’s impact, the 2020 State of the Industry data seems to indicate that the industry did persevere, and snow and ice management contractors – perhaps through a combination of thoughtful preplanning and good luck – managed to keep their heads above water and make it through to more solid footing this past spring.

Here are some of the highlights from this year’s report. According to the research data, more than a third of snow pros reported an increase in their gross revenues last winter over the previous season, and on average, contractors saw around $1.5 million to $1.7 million in gross revenues generated primarily from commercial contracts (62% of the overall average portfolio). Profit margins last winter hovered around the 50% mark for snow plowing (41% profit margin) and ice mitigation/management (47 percent).The following pages go into further detail on Winter 2019-20’s impact on the average contractors’ snow and ice management operations. And keep an eye out for additional in-depth reporting on the State of the Industry data findings in upcoming editions of the Snow Magazine Enewsletter.