I just returned from ICUEE — the International Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition that is held every other year in Louisville, Ky. The exposition provides utility contractors with the opportunity to see the latest in utility construction products and innovations. The 13,000-plus attendees also get the opportunity to actually operate equipment and attend educational programs.

The construction industry is responsible for infusing more than $243 billion into the U.S. economy and has been hit hard by the recession. Overall, the construction and related manufacturing industry has lost 37 percent of its jobs since the economic downturn began. This by far eclipses the job losses in the auto manufacturing and dealership industry.

Despite these losses, contractor attitudes at the show were upbeat. Many of our clients exhibiting at the show reported that customers were requesting quotes for equipment and serious about making purchases in the coming months.

I had the opportunity to visit with Dennis Slater during the exposition. Dennis is the president of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), which produces the ICUEE exposition. He provided us with an overview and discussed the state of the construction industry. Check out our video interview:

Tags: construction

This entry was posted on Friday, October 9th, 2009 at 8:18 am and is filed under Client Industries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.