I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of the locksmith industry these days.

Locksmith Ledger just finished long-range planning meetings where we discussed things such as sales, marketing, product offerings — all things typical and necessary when it comes to planning for any business.

One of the things discussed briefly was the name of the magazine. Locksmith Ledger has been in the industry for more than 80 years, yet there has been some thought to changing the name. Cutting right to the chase: We aren’t.

But there’s no question that what being a locksmith means is different today than it was 10 years ago, let alone 82. These days it’s no longer just “someone who tinkers with locks,” as the dictionary says. It’s also someone who installs door hardware, someone who sets up electronic access control systems, someone who has to be familiar with fire codes. It’s someone who is expected, or at least asked, to be an expert in just about every facet with respect to providing security to a home or business.

And in the post-pandemic era, it’s also necessary that this person is familiar with various methods that might provide safety as well as security.

In short, locksmiths nowadays are more “security pros,” “security specialists” or, in the words of at least one intrepid entrepreneur, “security gurus.”

With that in mind, Locksmith Ledger is exploring, once again, what it means to be a locksmith, and we’re looking for your help.

In 2020, we introduced our State of the Industry report, a research project in which we aimed to assess where the locksmith industry was and where it was headed. We asked questions about sales, marketing, product offerings — all things that make up a locksmith business. We also asked about markets covered, preferred methods of training and, yes, how COVID affected business.

More than 300 locksmiths responded. We’re thankful for your participation, and we believe that the report we produced showed an industry that went far beyond “tinkering.”

Now, with a year of experience under our belt, we’re running the report again. We heard you in the last survey and added a number of categories in individual questions to get more-specific data. We also added and cut a couple questions based on timeliness or responses from last year, again, hopefully to paint a full picture of the industry in 2021.