Hoping for new industrious friends

Leaders to show off a ‘dynamic’ Rockford at an international trade show in Chicago.

By Sean F. Driscoll

BusinessRockford.com

By this time next week, a manufacturer isn’t likely to have decided to move to the Rock River Valley after meeting with area businesses and economic groups at the International Manufacturing Technology Show.

By this time next year, however, leaders are hoping the news is different.

The Rockford Area Economic Development Council and 16 other sponsors are hosting a reception Wednesday during the weeklong trade show at McCormick Place in Chicago.

Several Rock River Valley businesses have booths to show off their wares, and more than 1,100 people from the area are registered to attend, according to IMTS data.

RAEDC President Janyce Fadden said the open house, the first one Rockford has had at this show, could be the first step to forming relationships with companies around the world.

“Success looks like people walking away impressed with Rockford,” she said. “It would be a win if we got a lead. Many of these are seed-planting meetings, especially the first time we do something. We’re putting the open house out there and seeing what will come.”

Local companies will have tabletop displays of their work, and Fadden said a new video on the Rockford area’s manufacturing depth will be shown.

“We want to introduce people to how dynamic (we are), the depth of our manufacturing community and what a welcoming community we are when people are thinking of expansions and movement of manufacturing facilities,” she said.

The IMTS highlights new manufacturing techniques and technology. More than 1,500 companies are expected to be exhibitors, and more than 91,000 buyers and sellers attend from 119 countries.

Kevin Holdmann, president of Transatlantic Connection Inc. in Rockford, will be staffing a booth all week at the trade show. His company engineers machine tools and has a worldwide clientele.

“The bottom line is to use the time effectively to network with existing customers and potentially find some new people out there,” he said. “This is a global show, not just a regional or United States-based show. There are people coming from all over the world, and the customer base for many of our products is all over the world.”

Holdmann doesn’t expect to seal any deals by the week’s end. Most of the equipment and technology that will be on display isn’t easily purchased.

“These aren’t things that you just buy. They’re something you need to plan into what you’re doing,” he said. “It’s not buying a new pair of scissors. For most of these products, you have to have the need and ability to integrate them into your production.”

Reach staff writer Sean F. Driscoll at 815-987-1346 or sdriscoll@rrstar.com.