First speakers announced for ALH C&A

Technology and the changing rental atmosphere will be hot topics at the 2017 ALH Conference & Awards, set for Oct. 12 at the Marriott Biscayne Bay in Miami. Thus far six speakers have been confirmed to present at the third event, with Ken Simonson, chief economist of The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Nabil Kassam, founder and chief economic officer of Noble Iron, joining the ranks.

Simonson, who has been the chief economist of the AGC since 2001, has 40 years of experience analyzing, advocating and communicating about economic and tax issues. His weekly summary of economic news relevant to construction, The Data Digest, goes out to 43,000 subscribers. Simonson will discuss the 2017 and 2018 forecast, as well as contractors’ changing attitudes toward rental and renting equipment.

Noble Iron’s Founder, Chairman and CEO, Nabil Kassam, and the company’s Vice President of Growth and Strategy, KJ Park, will present on the changing face of rental and how asset sharing could modify the future of business.

Rob Messina, vice president of defense engineering for Oshkosh and vice president of global engineering and program management at JLG, will discuss future technologies and how they will impact the industry. Following his presentation will be Giles Councell, IPAF’s director of operations, who will talk about virtual and artificial reality and how it is altering aerial work platform training and safety.

Donna Laquidara-Carr, Ph.D., LEED AP, industry insights research director for Dodge Data & Analytics, will present on understanding contractors’ attitudes toward safety and the lessons that rental companies can learn from contractors on how to build an effective safety culture.

Dodge Data & Analytics produced in partnership with the Center for Construction Research and Training and United Rentals (along with 12 other supporting and contributing organizations) Building a Safety Culture SmartMarket Report, and Laquidara-Carr will expand upon the findings.

Also on board is Jim Green, CEO of Spartan Solutions, who will present on the topic of maximizing efficiency with mobile technology. Spartan Solutions is a mobile technology provider that creates applications for various industry operations, including the rental industry.

More than 200 industry professionals attended the 2016 event at the same location to hear presentations from Larry Silber, CEO, Herc Rentals; Dale Asplund, CIO, United Rentals; and Gary McArdle, Executive Vice President, Rouse Services; Brad Boehler, President, Skyjack; Craig Paylor, COO, Ahern Rentals; and many more.

Rental companies in attendance included: ACME Lift Company; Aerial Access Equipment; Ahern Rentals; BigRentz; Cloverdale Equipment Co.; Compact Power Rental; Herc Rentals; Neff Rentals; NES Rentals; RentalYard.com; Sunbelt Rentals; United Rentals; UpEquip; US Markets and more.

Stay tuned as more speakers are announced, and make sure to visit our website for more information.