An early November snowstorm in Hartford, Conn., caused thousands of limbs to fall and millions of people to lose power, but not even Mother Nature could stop the Tree Care Industry EXPO.
More than 2,200 people attended three days of workshops, seminars and demonstrations focused on the tree care industry at the Connecticut Convention Center, where 177 companies exhibited.
Many tree service companies that came to Connecticut for the show also performed double-duty, carrying out tree work for local residents hit hard by the storms. And on Saturday, TCI EXPO opened the show floor and gave free admission to all tree care crews who were working to restore essential services to the New England and Northern Atlantic Region.
 LEFT: Attendees learned about tree rigging and climbing techniques around a large demonstration tree in the center of the expo. RIGHT: Jerry Morey of Brush Bandit Co. donated a chipper to the Tree Fund, and the winning bidders were Terri and Larry Torpy of Torpy Tree Care. From left to right, Scott Jamieson, TCI chairman; Janet Bornancin, executive director of the Tree Fund; Morey and the Torpys. |
"Despite a terrible storm that left hundreds of thousands of homes without power, the tree care industry came together for one of the best TCI EXPO's to date," says Bill Weber, team captain for Arborwear. "No other industry bonds together like ours. Where else can you find exhibitors sharing their hotel rooms with last-minute attendees because hotels were without power, or have residents opening their homes to crews that have been working through the night?"
The industry trade show, held Nov. 3-5, pushed through power outages, travel difficulties and reservation glitches to provide attendees from around the world with business, safety and arboriculture workshops as well as seminars, professional tree climbing demonstrations on a 30-foot tree inside the center, and the opportunity to compare equipment and evaluate products.
"Despite a storm that ravaged our host city and state for this year's TCI EXPO, customers showed up in good spirits and quantities," says Tony Gann, regional vice president for Altec Industries. "This was one of the strongest shows I've seen in recent history for actual equipment purchases off the show floor."
 Despite the storm causing headaches outside, attendees were in good spirits and suppliers found many were in a buying mood at the show. |
Scott Jamieson, vice president of Bartlett Tree Experts and chair of the TCIA board says, "We had many local Bartlett teammates who couldn't come to the show because they were serving their clients, cleaning up this massive amount of tree damage. We moved crews in from around the country to help. The level of tree damage is more than what we saw with Hurricane Irene. I am very proud of our TCIA staff who pulled together a great show. Those who made it here received great education and our supplier members found that people were in the buying mood.
We all left feeling very optimistic about the tree care business environment for 2012."
In addition to the trade show and conference, TCI EXPO hosted a Student Career Days event, which drew college and high school tree care students from around the U.S.
They participated in tree friendly climbing competitions, took part in educational seminars, workshops a job and internship fair, which gave students an inside look at the field they're studying.
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