In a recent episode of the Stone World podcast, Rhett Bender, a Senior Engagement Manager at Ducker Carlisle, shared insights on how businesses, particularly in the building products sector, might prepare for changes with the incoming Trump administration.

"The markets don't tend to change overnight,” said Bender. “You're not gonna go from, you know, the market was going to grow 2%. And then it's gonna grow 10% or vice versa. There are things on the margins that can improve and we certainly see some impacts from different administrations."

"We're starting to see that already, even though Trump has not taken office yet,” said Bender. “So there has been an uptick in [consumer and business] confidence. What that can mean is, you know, whether or not the material conditions are the same for folks if they're more confident in where they're going to be moving forward, they may be more willing to make that investment, do that remodel, upgrade their countertop."

On the topic of policy implementation speed, Bender offered a realistic timeline, stating, "Major policies aren't achieved in those 100 days. But you know, kind of those first 2 years, though, tend to be a little more accurate of a timeline."

The discussion also touched on potential economic policies like tax cuts and tariffs.

"Understanding, I think it's something like 70% of stone production tends to come from overseas,” said Bender. “So you know, it can be a big impact. But no country makes up a significant portion of the market enough that other countries couldn't pick up the slack."

"There is obviously the risk to deportation,” said Bender. “And you know, immigrant policy. There's kind of the flip side of that for folks where there is kind of the potential for wages to increase as well for those that are in the market."

For small business owners looking to navigate the next four years, Bender's advice was pragmatic.

"The best business practices don't necessarily change based on administration,” said Bender. “So you still have to go about, you know, finding customers and employing quality people. When there's kind of the risk of less worker availability, finding good quality workers is, you know, maybe of even higher importance."