Lightning in a bottle
One of the most exciting things about returning to Louisville this year for John Perry, president of Greene County Fertilizer Co., is seeing customers in person again for the first time in a long time. Greene County Fertilizer Co. has been exhibiting for more than a decade at GIE+EXPO. Perry echoes Koolmees and says the show is important to the company because of the volume of customers that he and his team can see in one place.
“There are new connections made every single year,” he says. “We can’t miss it because we get to rub elbows with a lot of our customers, we get to take them out, we get to go on the town, we get to enjoy everything Louisville has to offer.”
Perry recalls meeting Pete Denny, owner of GCI Turf Services, four years ago in Louisville, and from that meeting, Denny became Greene County’s first online distributor.
“It’s been an incredible relationship since the time I met him at that show,” he says. “I’m more excited to just see the people I haven’t seen for the last couple of years.”
Ken Osberg, director of marketing, Echo
Missing out on the 2020 GIE+EXPO was particularly painful for professional equipment manufacturer Echo. The company experienced “lighting in a bottle” at the 2019 edition of the show and had high hopes for the 2020 follow-up.
“GIE+EXPO is our Super Bowl,” says Ken Osberg, director of marketing for Echo. “It’s our No. 1 opportunity to put a tool in a user’s hands, and there’s no better place to do that than GIE+EXPO. It gives the market a chance to see what’s new. It also gives a user who may not be familiar with Echo an opportunity to try our tools. It’s our once-a-year opportunity where the entire green industry comes together.”
For Echo, the anticipation for the 2021 show is even higher as the company plans several new product launches, a celebration of its 50th anniversary and a new collaboration with industry partners. Echo, GIE+EXPO and The Davey Tree Co. are partnering to present a Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop in the Expo Center’s Freedom Hall.
“We’ll be doing demonstrations and talks in between Davey’s trainings and demonstrations as well,” he says. “(Outdoor Power Equipment Institute President and CEO) Kris Kiser calls it ‘the reunion of the industry.’ He’s so on point with that because we get a chance to see all our partners and potential partners as well. We really welcome that. That’s why the show is so important for us.”
