Happy New Year! Welcome to the start of a new year and a new era with The National Provisioner.

As was done last year at this time, The National Provisioner surveyed you, our processor readers, on capital expenditure trends in your companies as part of our 2015 Economic Outlook.

In conjunction with The National Provisioner’s 2014 Economic Outlook, we thought it wise to get a read on processor’s capital-expenditures trends this year and spending plans for the coming year as a leading indicator on the industry’s health, and to offer a benchmark for your company’s plans.

As you read this column, you might be thinking, “Who is Scott Seltz, and why have I not read anything from him in The National Provisioner before?”