NPE to Open Exhibit Floor Early in 2013
For the first time in its history National Pavement Expo (NPE) will open its exhibit floor for a two-hour "sneak peak" on the evening of Jan. 23, 2013, the first day of the event, according to Amy Schwandt, publisher of Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction. NPE runs Jan. 23-26, 2013 at the Nashville Convention Center.
"Historically the first day of NPE has always been an all-conference day, highlighting NPE's 'how-to' training and management education. But exhibitors and attendees told us they would like to see the floor open that day so we're going to give it a try," Schwandt said.
As in the past NPE will offer 3-hour workshops the morning of Jan. 23 followed by ten 90-minute seminars in the afternoon, ending at 4:30. The exhibit floor will be open from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. To accommodate the schedule change NPE will hold its free Industry Roundtables on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 24 and 25."The Roundtables are popular events and we didn't want them to conflict with the exhibit hours so it just makes sense to move them," Schwandt said.
Because of the "Sneak Peak" on the first evening there will be no exhibit hours on the last day, Saturday, Jan. 26. There will, however, be a full conference program as always on Saturday morning.
"The last day, Saturday, has always been a strong day for NPE's educational sessions so we are making sure contractors still have that opportunity," Schwandt said.
Another addition to the NPE 2013 will be a question-and-answer booth on the exhibit floor. "This is an opportunity for contractors to interact with NPE speakers and Pavement Advisory Board members," said Allan Heydorn, conference manager. "Often people don't have the opportunity to ask the question they need answered or they just want some insight into a problem or situation specific to their business. This Q&A booth offers contractors an opportunity to receive some informal consulting."
The Q&A booth will be open from 1:00-4:00 p.m., Friday, Jan. 25, on the exhibit floor.
[Sidebar]
NPE 2013 Exhibit Floor Hours
Wednesday, January 23: 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 24, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday, January 25, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Elgin to Rep Challenger Brand in North America
Elgin Sweeper Co., a subsidiary of Federal Signal Corp., announced it has entered into a marketing agreement with Challenger Manufacturing Ltd., Winnipeg, Canada, to market and distribute a mechanical broom sweeper under the Elgin Sweeper brand name in North America. The Elgin Broom Badger is a dual-engine sweeper mounted on an Isuzu NRR 19,500 lb. Class 5 cabover chassis, and does not require a commercial driver’s license to operate.
“This agreement allows Elgin Sweeper to further extend our street sweeper product offering in North America and provide our municipal and contractor customers with more options to meet their sweeping needs,” said Brian Giles, Elgin Sweeper sweeper products manager.
The Broom Badger features a compact, low-profile design, a 109-inch wheelbase and a tight turning radius, a 4.15-cubic-yard side-dump hopper (variable to 10 feet), and variable displacement, load sense piston pump-type hydraulics. The sweeping system is powered by an auxiliary Tier 4i Kubota 59-horsepower diesel engine.
“This economical, compact sweeper is ideal for our municipal and contractor customers who need powerful cleaning without a full-size sweeper,” Giles said. “The Broom Badger offers the same efficient cleaning system as our larger models, but is suitable for smaller sweeping applications.”
May Named President at Schwarze Industries
Schwarze Industries, Huntsville, AL, has announced that Howard May has been appointed president of the company. May, who has been on assignment at Schwarze since November 2011, joined Schwarze's Selma, AL-based sister company, Bush Hog, in 2007 as vice president- operations.
"I am delighted to have Howard join Schwarze management team in Huntsville," said Jeff Leonard, executive vice president at Schwarze's parent, Alamo Group Inc. "He brings over 30 years of successful industrial manufacturing and operations management experience to Schwarze Industries. Since coming to Schwarze late last year, he has made an immediately, positive impact and I look forward to working closely with him to further develop Schwaze' operations in the future."
In other Schwarze appointments Greg Heyer is vice president of sales and marketing and Kevin Lozen is plant manager.
