Some forest products industry trade shows and meetings are being scheduled and re-scheduled for 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the U.S.
The East Coast Sawmill and Logging Equipment Exposition will be held in Richmond, Virginia, May 21-22. It is considered the largest pallet industry event for live equipment demonstrations and has become a leading trade show for seeing equipment and innovation up close. The exposition is co-sponsored by the Virginia Forest Products Association (VFPA) and the Cooperative Extension Service at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
The Richmond Expo will offer the year’s largest collection of pallet manufacturing/recycling, sawmilling, kiln drying, timber harvesting, biomass, trucking, optimization/scanning, material handling, firewood production and related equipment, supplies and services. The event will once again feature the Log-A-Load tic tac toe competition for loggers as well as live equipment pavilions by Pallet Machinery Group and Viking Engineering.
Attendees can compare their current equipment to the latest state-of- the-art, most technologically-advanced equipment on the market. “Enthusiasm has been off the charts by industry suppliers and machinery manufacturers,” said Lesley Moseley, the VFPA executive director. “ We are almost 85 percent sold out and expect a quality attendance from companies looking to automate.”
“We are expecting this event to go off in May although it will be somewhat different due to COVID,” she added. “But what hasn’t changed over the last year in our world?”
In regards to COVD precautions, the VFPA is working with the Richmond Raceway Complex and state officials to establish best practices to mitigate COVID-19 concerns. There may be more spacing in aisles, one-way traffic routing, mask requirements, etc.
Lesley said, “I believe EXPO Richmond will once again be a great gathering for the entire forest products industry, especially the pallet sector.”
For more information about the trade show, visit www.exporichmond.com or call (804) 737-5625.
The Northeastern Forest Products Equipment Expo that was scheduled in Bangor, Maine, for mid-May has been postponed until September 24-25. The show organizer is tracking a number of factors that still need to flip in favor of a large gathering, including the Canadian border opening, Maine gathering restrictions loosening ,and out-of-state travel to Maine relaxing, but the region’s forest products community remains hopeful.
For more information about the Northeast Expo, visit www.northernlogger.com or call (315) 369-3078.
The pallet industry has two upcoming meetings. The Western Pallet Association will hold its annual meeting in Rancho Mirage, California, April 16-19. The theme of the meeting is ‘Find Your Plus!…Add to Your Bottom Line!’ The association also offers a virtual meeting option in addition to the live event. The virtual option allows attendees to watch the speakers and connect with suppliers remotely.
Many people are curious about how the association is taking precautions to be as safe as possible given the widespread contagion of the coronavirus. Dave Sweitzer, the executive vice president of the WPA, commented, “We are 100 percent moving ahead with the annual meeting both in person and virtually. The host hotel, Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa, has taken extra precautions to sanitize the facility and purify the air. The HVAC systems are equipped with economizers, which draw fresh air from outside to assist with keeping the indoor air fresh. The hotel will service, clean, and replace all filters in our meeting space the day before our arrival. The normal meeting room, exhibit hall, and meals will be arranged differently to accommodate any required social distancing.”
For more information about the meeting, visit www.westernpallet.org or call (360) 335-0208.
The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association will hold its annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, Sept. 15-17. Details about the program will be unveiled in the coming months.
Brent McClendon, president and CEO of the NWPCA, said, “We’ll be following the guidance of federal and state and hotel policies that exist in September related to spacing, masks, temperature checks, and so on. We are not planning a virtual option at this time.”
For more information about the event, visit www.palletcentral.com.
