My tenure at CFMA will be coming to a close soon, as I am retiring later this year after our 2023 Annual Conference. As I look ahead to the next chapter of my life, I am reminded that spring is the season of renewal and growth. As we look toward the future, I hope to impart some blossoming words of wisdom in my final messages addressed to all of you.
CONEXPO-CON/AGG
A few weeks ago, I returned from the CONEXPO-CON/AGG trade show in Las Vegas. For those of you who are not familiar with this event, it takes place every three years and showcases virtually every product and service impacting the construction industry. While it mainly focuses on showcasing heavy equipment, the depth and scope of this event is somewhat beyond comprehension.
If you were to imagine the largest exhibition you’ve ever seen and multiply it by nine, then you’ll have some idea of the vastness of this event. What I learned at this year’s event was that the demise of the construction industry due to the impending recession has been greatly exaggerated. There, I saw approximately 130,000 of my construction industry friends invade Las Vegas, and I didn’t hear much about a recession.
CFMA has utilized CONEXPO-CON/AGG to its strategic advantage during the past few years, and one of the least understood aspects of CONEXPO is the vast array of educational programs offered.
At the 2020 show, we were invited to participate in the development of educational programs. That year, we dipped our toes in the water and sponsored programs that covered such topics as managing cash flow, successful hiring, and ownership transfer.
This year, we took the opportunity to offer educational programs to the next level and sponsored and identified speakers for 13 sessions. This exposure to CFMA education was significant as construction industry executives were able to experience presentations on a host of subjects from CFMA members, including sessions on financial benchmarking, succession planning, financial planning for nonfinancial professionals, diversifying the workforce, and an introduction to the Heavy Equipment Comparator, which is a new product CFMA produced in partnership with the Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP).
Heavy Equipment Comparator
Speaking of the Comparator, CFMA’s Incoming Vice Chair Caryl Coronis, CCIFP, along with her peers from AEMP, spoke about the Comparator at CONEXPO as well as at AEMP’s annual conference held in conjunction with CONEXPO.
The Comparator is a new benchmarking product jointly produced by CFMA and AEMP. It provides a set of 32 financial and operational benchmarks to help heavy highway fleet managers measure equipment maintenance, performance, and costs.
This product has been in development during the last year, and we are excited for it to be released.
For more information about the Comparator, visit hecomparator.com.
CFMA’s 2023 Annual Conference & Exhibition
Finally, it’s not too late to register for CFMA’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition on July 15-19 in Aurora, CO. So far, this year’s event is on track to be CFMA’s highest attended Conference ever.
Don’t miss out on the must-attend event of the year for construction financial professionals! See you in Colorado!
Copyright © 2023 by the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). All rights reserved. This article first appeared in March/April 2023 CFMA Building Profits magazine.