Despite some strong economic headwinds, such as the ongoing trade and tariff war, the security industry continues to stay positive about the business landscape for the remainder of 2025. Confidence remains high as security professionals from all areas of the industry gear up for some of the biggest conferences and trade shows of the year, including ISC West in Las Vegas, April 1-4, the Security Hardware Distributors Association (SHDA) Summit, April 28-May 1, in Phoenix, Ariz., the ESA Expo, June 16-19 in Cobb County, Ga., the ALOA Convention in Orlando in August, and the GSX Conference and Expo in New Orleans in September, to name just some of the bigger ones on the calendar for me and many others here on the security team, which includes Locksmith Ledger, Security Business and Security Technology Executive publications as well as Securityinfowatch.com and LocksmithLedger.com.

And getting back to the industry’s eternal optimism, the Security Industry Association (SIA) just released results of its bimonthly Security Market Index, which shows that while there are concerns about the impact of the new administration’s trade policies, confidence in the security industry remains solid this spring. For example, despite the worries, more than three-fourths of survey respondents described current conditions for their business in positive terms, with 54 percent saying they are “good” and 22 percent describing them as “excellent.”

“The SIA Government Relations Department is closely tracking the tariffs issue and advocating for policies that support continued growth in the security industry,” said SIA Board of Directors Chair Scott Dunn of Axis Communications. “There are always challenges for businesses to overcome, but we at SIA, like the majority of survey respondents, are looking forward to a prosperous 2025.”

This sentiment echoes what we heard during our Locksmith Ledger webcast yesterday, March 18, on “Upgrading to Electronic Access Control,” which featured experts on both the locksmithing and manufacturer side, including Wayne Winton, Owner, Tri County Locksmith Service, Daniel Hardwick, Vice President, AKL Solutions, Roland Smith, Industry Solutions Leader – Hospitality, Salto, and Peter Lowenstein, Vice President Sales, NAPCO Access. As these experienced security pros pointed out, the industry is “resilient” and will find a way to overcome these and any other challenges.

Regardless of all that is going on right now, I look forward to seeing a lot of familiar and friendly faces in person at the many upcoming events, as these in-person gatherings help to bring us together as an industry to come up with ways to better overcome industry and business challenges as we navigate through possible choppy waters ahead.

-Paul Ragusa