While the specifics in different forecasts are all over the board, the general consensus is that 2011 will be a challenging year. The latest Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI economic forecast puts U.S. GDP growth for 2011 at 2.8 percent, and expectations are that there will be little to no growth in new construction during the year.

“We’re looking ahead to 2011 being kind of a difficult year for a lot of companies,” says Brent Grover, managing partner of Evergreen Consulting, LLC. Job growth is not occurring, particularly in wholesale distribution, and companies are still putting off capital expenditures.

In his conversation with MDM Publisher Tom Gale for the latest episode of MDM’s Executive Briefing Webcast (available free to subscribers at www.mdm.com/executivebriefing), Grover provided an overview …