ForConstructionPros.com

National Pavement Expo made a triumphant return to Charlotte, NC, attracting more than 2,300 contractors to the 21st annual event, Feb. 15-18. This was the second time NPE visited Charlotte, and show manager Loretta Miles branded the event as successful as any venue NPE has visited.

"Our exhibitors were happy and more people attended seminars at this show than at any event we've hosted in 21 years," Miles said. "We hope this puts Charlotte on the map as a place we can return to for future NPE shows."

Miles said there had been some concern among exhibitors and even contractors that Charlotte was not the best location for NPE.

"But we had a good feel for it the first time we went there and this year proves we were right," Miles said. "The first year (2003) we tried Charlotte we ran into so many problems that were beyond our control that we couldn't even judge how successful the location was for us. So we wanted to go back and give it another try. Now we know it's going to work, which is good for contractors and good for our exhibitors who can reach people in another area of the country."

If NPE continues to visit Charlotte, it will be the third location (with Nashville and Atlanta) that will host the show.