The Case For Community
“The strength of free peoples resides in the local community. Local institutions are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they put it within the people’s reach; they teach people to appreciate its peaceful enjoyment and accustom them to make use of it. Without local institutions a nation may give itself a free government, but it has not got the spirit of liberty.”
— Alexis de Tocqueville
It is just past Labor Day, but lately I have been thinking about winter and the great snowstorm that happened in Chicago in January 1967. In the span of 29 hours, Mother Nature dumped 23 inches of snow on the city. It still is Chicago’s largest snowfall on record.
My family and I lived in a small, two-story apartment building where there were four units. Dozens of similar buildings surrounded us, creating a larger complex where hundreds of souls sat glued to the TV that January. We all shared one thought: who is going to dig us out?
The answer was that we would. City road crews were not going to reach us for days and if we wanted a path to the nearest market, which was about a mile away, we had to get out our shovels and create it. The entire complex went to work. Those who were not shoveling were cooking potluck meals from whatever they had in the refrigerator.
For me, this event still offers an essential example of what it means to be part of a community. We created a plan of action together, pooled resources, and made sure no one was left behind, including the Weidners’ upstairs neighbor who was just days away from giving birth.
There are places, associations, and organizations that offer membership — and then there are those that offer community.
MSCI offers community.
MSCI Chapters And Conferences: A Place To Gather
At MSCI, we have just opened registration for our 2025 Aluminum Conference. Along with our Economic Summit, Safety Summit, and our combined Steel Conference and Annual Meeting of Members, the Aluminum event is one of our four yearly national conferences.
These events are not just places to come to learn about industry trends and opportunities. They are gathering spots, offering opportunities to make the type of deep connections with suppliers and customers that make our industry so special. In a world that is increasingly transactional — focused on price rather than value — MSCI’s annual conferences help our member companies’ bottom lines by providing a space to develop meaningful, sustainable relationships.
Our chapters offer regional opportunities to gather, meanwhile. Whether celebrating the holidays, taking in a ballgame, or listening to a lunchtime speaker, these events foster business partnerships and strong friendships.
MSCI chapters also bring member company leaders closer to the men and women who work for them. When a company sponsors a hole at a chapter golf outing, they are supporting fundraising for that chapter’s scholarship program. The children of any MSCI member company employee can apply for these awards and use them for postsecondary education and training opportunities.
In 2025, our chapters awarded nearly $1.9 million in scholarships to 480 applicants. Those numbers represent a four percent increase in money awarded and a five percent increase in scholarships awarded from 2024.
If you have ever attended a scholarship dinner — and I have attended several — you know how much these dollars mean to the families who receive them. Not every trade association advocates for its industry employees and their families and I am so grateful that the MSCI community shows up in this way.
Industry Intelligence: A Key Benefit Of Community
The word “community” evokes an emotional response — warm thoughts, kind feelings. Data may not be the first thing a person thinks of when they hear the word “community,” but this pooling of insight is a key benefit of joining the MSCI community.
In the coming months, MSCI will release the results of our 2025 Safety Survey. As I explained earlier this year, the Safety Survey is designed to provide easy-to-understand metals industry safety benchmarks for MSCI members. It is intended to track company trends to address safety concerns, as well as benchmarking against peer organizations, and it is the only source for metals industry safety data beyond basic U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Canadian government data.
The final survey does not name companies — the results are anonymous — but by pooling member company data we have armed MSCI members with the intelligence they need to create a Zero Harm, Safety Always environment for their employees.
MSCI’s compensation surveys also pool and anonymize data. The result here is that companies have a resource to improve negotiations and arrive at an agreeable rate more quickly. Earlier this year, we released a survey related to production employee compensation. I hope you will check it out.
Finally, MSCI’s Metals Activity Report (MAR) is an indispensable monthly analysis of metals service center shipments and inventories that offers the data companies need to execute intelligent strategic and tactical planning. The report’s accuracy and timeliness are respected and widely used throughout the industry as well as by analysts at major banks and at the Federal Reserve.
We All Need Community To Thrive
Former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who spoke at MSCI’s Annual Meeting a few years ago, once observed, “Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together.”
But, right now, Americans’ and Canadians’ sense of community is flagging.
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found only 54 percent of Americans feel a connection to others near them. A survey taken in Canada in 2024 produced similar findings. That poll, commissioned by YMCA Canada, found a 60 percent of Canadians feel disconnected from their community.
These numbers are driving what some have called the “loneliness epidemic” happening in our world today.
The Metals Service Center Institute is not the only answer to the loneliness many people feel — and I acknowledge it may not even be a primary answer. But in a world that is increasingly transactional, the Institute does offer the chance to make the sort of deep connections that drive success and personal wellbeing.
I hope you will engage with us more.