World of Concrete 2019: Cordless tools create buzz
The crowd at the 2019 World of Concrete was a mix of contractors, salespeople and industry experts from all over the world, but many agreed on one thing: the trade show is a lot to take in.
“There’s so much stuff here,” said Eugene Cowhick, a tool and equipment manager for U.S. Navy Seabees.
“I’m sure I’ll miss something. The (Las Vegas) Convention Center is giant, so it’s hard to take in everything.”
“It’s overwhelming,” said Joel Grevenstuk, a cement contractor from Michigan.
Matt Hadley, a Houston-based producer at Leavitt Group, has been coming to the show for 10 years and said each year gets better and better.
“It always improves,” he said. Every year, there’s “something new, something exciting. The venue is off the charts.”
Some of his favorite products this year were Dragon Screed’s concrete pouring tools and Putzmeister’s new concrete pumps.
This year, “it’s (about) being more simplified, and there’s things people are putting a spin on to create new opportunities,” he said. “Just a different way to look at ways to be innovative and cut down on cost and time and labor.”
Hadley said he’s been seeing a lot of cordless tools at the trade show from companies like Makita and Bosch.
“That’s probably one of the biggest and newest things,” he said. “I think safety’s one of the biggest things. When you start using cordless, you don’t have a requirement for extension cords and things like that” that can make people trip.
Karen and Randy A. Frei, owners of Randy A. Frei Construction in St. George, Utah, said they didn’t see much new technology at the convention, but they have noticed a difference in price over the past 15 years of the trade show.
“Electronics have come a long way. … The price has come down to where it makes it profitable for even the little guy to use stuff that’s more technical,” Randy A. Frei said. “It makes it possible for us to purchase something like that that’s very advantageous to our business.”
Eric Hanna, who works for Hayward, California-based Landavazo Brother Concrete Construction, first attended World of Concrete 10 years ago and said not much has changed over the years.
“It’s all the same stuff to me. … It’s all the same technology,” he said.
Still, he said the trade show is worth attending — if only for the free food, tote bags, candy and other goodies.
Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.
