Previously a gold sponsor of the last five events, Lifting Gear Hire (LGH) hosted its first ever Lift & Move USA program on May 3, 2017 and received rave reviews from attendees, vendors, and sponsors alike.
Initiated, organized, and largely funded by SC&RA, KHL Group and NCCCO with each event hosted by a different SC&RA member, the fundamental core of Lift & Move USA is to recruit high-school students, veterans, technical academy students and professionals alike and address the ever-growing labor shortage in the United States. The event was designed to provide information to students who believe college is price-prohibitive, not practical for teaching skills, or do not have the overall desire. Around 140 visitors attended the first Lift & Move USA conference in Chicago in 2015, and thanks to word of mouth, the number of registrants nearly quintupled for each event since then.
This particular event was held inside of LGH’s 100,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Bridgeview, IL, where LGH staff and volunteers greeted over 500 students, teachers, parents, and more from across the U.S. Visitors were initially welcomed by National Rental Support Manager, Patrick Clark, in a keynote speech.
Afterwards, attendees were split into various groups where they visited nine different interactive and live instructional learning stations positioned around the warehouse including lattice boom crane and welding simulators, crane demonstrations, equipment inspection processes, and equipment tests where professionals defined and demonstrated ‘design factor’ by taking equipment beyond the designated limit of destruction. The famed “Bat-mobile” made an appearance, as well, which was moved onto air skates, then lifted into the air during a hydraulic gantry demonstration.
As visitors carefully walked to and from stations, they were able to witness rigging and lifting equipment in action and see the inner workings of a real live warehouse. Among the students and teachers that attended the event included vendors and sponsors of the event such as Imperial Crane, Barnhart, All Family of Cranes, Rigging Gear Sales, NCCCO, SC&R Foundation, KHL Publishing, DICA, Riggers L.U. 136, Ironworkers L.U. 1, Operating Engineers L.U. 150iti, ITI, H & E Equipment, Mazzella, Lincoln Electric Company, and Dearborn Companies.
“An event like Lift & Move has the potential to have a significant impact on the next generation of the workforce,” President of Lifting Gear Hire, Tony Fiscelli, said. “With just the sheer amount of expertise and professionalism exalted by the LGH team, the sponsors, the vendors, and the speakers, I think students were given all the right tools to make an informed decision regarding their future. They are definitely in good hands.”
Then the participants received lunch and were given an opportunity to revisit stations and meet with industry professionals to obtain information pertinent to becoming a member of the various fields highlighted during the fair.
“The Lift & Move event was a tremendous success and I was very impressed with the number of people in attendance and also the support from all of the event sponsors,” Fiscelli added. “This was a massive undertaking and we couldn’t have done it without all the help from the LGH staff, our sponsors, and all the vendors.”
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LGH decided to host the event in an effort to give back to the industry that has provided them with so much over the years. LGH has continued establishing itself as a supporting partner to the SC&RA’s over 1,400 crane, rigging and specialized transportation member companies and the company enjoyed seeing so many owners, presidents and labor representatives on their home turf. Many guests were surprised at the inventory and breadth of LGH’s extensive inventory of equipment in person.
Over the past years, Patrick Clark has attended most the conferences and sits on the Crane & Rigging Safety and Education Committee. Clark stated, “This was an important event for LGH to host. This program illustrated that LGH is committed to financially and physically supporting an initiative that is seeking to attract our future labor force, and thus, our future customers. The amount of shear teamwork, marketing efforts that lead to the excitement leading up to this event by all involved was unsurpassed compared to previous events.”
“Lifting Gear Hire’s event will be a hard event to top. It really relayed the message that this company possesses very valuable resources, and certainly explains why they are such a successful and valued member and service provider to the SC&RA,” exclaimed Brett Melvin, President of Lift & Move USA.
If you missed the event, there are an additional two Lift & Move USA events planned for 2017 including one hosted by Buchanan Hauling in Indianapolis, IN, on September 14, and another hosted by Berard Transportation & Deep South Crane in Baton Rouge on November 15. Please visit http://www.liftandmoveusa.com to get more information.
