The First Biennial NAFCA Expo International Trade Show

By all accounts the NAFCA Expo at the Classic Center in Athens Georgia was an unqualified success. NAFCA's first international trade show was bigger than expected, and well attended. The seminars on Friday were informative, on point, and well attended by contractors and vendors. They included Sales Training with Bill Schenke of Ameristar, LiftMaster's Bill McCoy teaching installation of gate operators, and business building seminars on job costing and business management, as well as tool and technique talks and demonstrations. The Southern-style barbeque that followed was excellent, with ample opportunities to talk with friends and colleagues in the fence industry. After dinner, attendees walked across the way into the parking structure to watch Ray Statz of Qual-Line Fence in Waunakee, WI win the World Fence News NAFCAR championship on his high wheel tricycle built entirely of fence materials.

 It was tremendous fun as the crowd of screaming fans watched him take three out of three heats to defeat close rivals Chris Chapman, of Chapman Fence and Marge Knudson, of Modern Fence Technologies.

The show on Saturday allowed vendors and contractors from all over the United States and Canada to meet and discuss needs and build the relationships essential to success in today’s competitive market, and ended with a booth auction, with much of the proceeds going to NAFCA's Goodwill Project. If you missed this chance to be a part of a NAFCA event, don't miss the upcoming Fence Installation Training School in Sebring FL this February. Over 250 years of installation experience will be represented by the lineup of instructors, as they teach tools and techniques, along with standards and “tricks of the trade” in an affordable and exciting atmosphere.

NAFCA is dedicated to education and helping contractors grow strong through sound and ethical business practices. Go to 4NAFCA.com to see what NAFCA can do for your business. And start planning now to attend the second Biennial NAFCA Expo in 2014.