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In many ways Florida
is to hurricane protection what California is to environmental protection.
It is the leading edge in growing efforts to protect against a potentially
disastrous situation, and many other areas of the country look to Florida
first to learn and then to adopt policies for themselves. With what few
would deny as the most stringent product testing and approval process,
what gets approved in South Florida can be approved virtually anywhere.
Yet the hurricane protection industry cannot be—and is not—totally
focused on one state. What began in Florida is spreading throughout the
country, and this is a very good thing. The hurricane protection industry
is growing well beyond the South Florida region, and in many cases is
just getting started.
The most recent IHPA meeting was held in Jacksonville, FL (see page 10),
and plans are to hold at least one meeting a year outside of the southern
Florida region—most likely two meetings will be held outside the
area with one eventually moving outside the state. The IHPA wants to grow
its membership outside South Florida to include all coastal zones threatened
by hurricanes throughout the United States.
This month’s cover story profiles a high-end contractor in Charleston,
SC, with a home on one of the barrier islands (see page 14). A year ago,
when Jim and Linda McLain first began offering hurricane shutters, they
were all alone in this market. Not so anymore.
Finally, Hurricane Protection magazine is partnering with iShow.com on
the NextGen05 home to be built at the upcoming 2005 International Builders
Show in Orlando, FL, January 13 to 16, 2005 (see page 20). This effort
will provide HP magazine, IHPA and the hurricane protection industry in
general an excellent opportunity to further our goals and objectives to
builders from across the United States as well as around the globe to
other countries that face severe weather conditions in coastal communities.
HP magazine looks to be the connection between manufacturers and suppliers
of hurricane protection products and the builders and contractors searching
for the products they need no matter in which hurricane or high-wind zones
they work.
This magazine will be the voice of the industry bringing new product information,
industry news and information on all fronts of the hurricane protection
industry from seasonal hurricane forecasts to the latest on building codes
and product approvals and our annual who’s who in the industry (the
only hurricane protection Buyer’s Guide & Directory) every fall.
In the offing, a core curriculum will be available for those HP professionals
manufacturing and installing products as part of the World of Hurricane
Protection Trade Show and Conference. Watch for it.
Howard Shingle, EDITOR
Kerri Caldwell, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
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