equip magazine | Edition 4

WELCOME

Events

Four Decades and Counting

Oct. 17–20, 2023 Kentucky Exposition Center Louisville, Kentucky Tuesday, Oct. 17 Welcome Reception Kentucky International Convention Center 6:30 PM – 9 PM Wednesday, Oct. 18 Mulligan’s 5K Fun Run 7 AM – 8 AM Indoor Show Hours Dealers Only: 9 AM – 12 PM Open to All Attendees: 12 PM – 5 PM Outdoor Show Hours Open to All Attendees: 12 PM – 5 PM Wednesday Night Concert Fourth Street Live! 8 PM Thursday, Oct. 19 Indoor Show Hours Open to All Attendees: 9 AM – 5 PM Outdoor Show Hours Open to All Attendees: 9 AM – 5 PM Women’s Leadership Reception 5 PM – 6 PM Thursday Night Arena Concert KFC Yum! Center 6 PM – 9 PM

We’re celebrating this year at Equip Exposition. Expo—one of the largest annual trade shows in the United States—marks its 40 th show this October. Since starting as a pavilion of outdoor power equipment attached to the Farm Show in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1984, the event has grown into the international outdoor living, landscape equipment exposition for landscapers, dealers, hardscapers, and contractors from all 50 states and 49 countries. The Expo experience our attendees have in Louisville each October is one they can’t get anywhere else. The show provides the industry a one-stop shop for the latest and most advanced products, education, and networking they need to grow their business. Some attendees at Expo might be unfamiliar with OPEI, the trade association that owns and manages Expo. We’re celebrating this year, too, marking our 70 th anniversary this summer at our annual member meeting. OPEI represents manufacturers and suppliers of power equipment, small engines, battery power systems, portable generators, utility and personal transport vehicles, and golf cars. Our members make the equipment you use or sell every day in your business, and ensure it’s safe and efficient. Our TurfMutt Foundation promotes the living landscape you help design, install, and maintain. And our trade show brings together the entire industry to see and try out the latest product innovations. In the 40 years since Expo began, the show has continued to invest in the city of Louisville. We opened a show office on Main Street last year, and our annual

event brings in more than $20 million each year to the city. And our TurfMutt Foundation has partnered with the Kentucky Humane Society to host Mulligan’s Mutt Madness for five years, helping 50 dogs find forever homes with show attendees. We’ve also sponsored TurfMutt Park at the KHS, giving their foster dogs a place to exercise while they await adoption. The TurfMutt Foundation promotes the benefits of the managed landscape. Throughout the California drought response in 2002, TurfMutt pushed education into schools nationwide, highlighting the vital environmental impact our living landscapes have. Thanks to partnerships with organizations like Discovery, Scholastic, the U.S. Green Building Council, and now CBS/Hearst Television, TurfMutt has shown more than 70 million teachers, students, and parents that nature starts at their back door. The industry has changed a lot since 1984, and the show has evolved right along with it. Every year, Expo provides new experiences and opportunities for attendees to see and try out the latest products in the industry. Equip Expo, TurfMutt, and OPEI are fully engaged in the industry— have been for decades, and will be for decades to come. We’re looking forward to the future, and to seeing you this fall in Louisville.

Jordan Steele (left) and John Steele (right), the father-son duo of Steele Blades Lawn/Landscaping & Pool Services, will be helping to build Mulligan’s Bark Park, a small, purposeful urban dog park near the Ohio Theatre Marquee in downtown Louisville. Watch the transformation on a special TurfMutt Foundation-sponsored episode of CBS’ Lucky Dog next season.

Friday, Oct. 20 Indoor Show Hours Open to All Attendees: 9 AM – 2 PM Outdoor Show Hours Open to All Attendees: 9 AM – 1 PM

Kris Kiser President and CEO OPEI, Equip Exposition, TurfMutt Foundation

Equip Exposition and OPEI President Kris Kiser with Mulligan the TurfMutt at the trade show’s offices on Main Street in Louisville, Kentucky.

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www.equipexposition.com

www.equipexposition.com

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