NPE2021 plans forge ahead, sees challenges shifting from May date

The organizer of NPE2021 is optimistic that the largest plastics event in North America will take as scheduled in May, even as the show says it would face major challenges in shifting the date if it can't proceed as planned.

Tony Radoszewski, CEO of the Plastics Industry Association, struck a positive tone in a Sept. 24 interview, pointing to actions the venue has taken to keep the show safe and expectations that the coronavirus will be manageable.

He also acknowledged it would be difficult to find another location or postpone the huge event until later next year, if it's not possible to hold it on schedule May 17-21 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.

"The show is going on," he said. "We're in an optimistic position where we believe the COVID virus will have diminished significantly."

Radoszewski said the OCCC recently received accreditation for its disinfection procedures from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, which is part of the International Sanitary Supply Association. The OCCC said in a news release that the GBAC accreditation is the "gold standard" of venue safety and that it's one of the largest exhibition centers in the United States to receive it.

NPE, which takes place every three years, is seen as a major economic driver for the industry. NPE2018 had more than 56,000 attendees over five days, with 2,100 exhibiting companies occupying 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space.

"We're going forward," Radoszewski said. "The only thing that would stop us was if a third-party organization — that could be the state of Florida, the city of Orlando, the convention center or the federal government — would say, 'You can't have these meetings.' … That's going to be the deciding factor for us."

He said rescheduling or finding another venue would be difficult.

There are only two venues in the United States that could realistically host the event, Orlando and Chicago's McCormick Place. The convention center in Las Vegas could theoretically host it, but that venue has never expressed interest, he said.

The time required for the setup and takedown of large plastics machinery limits options, he said.

"Because of the size of our show, and the amount of time we take to set up, have the show and close it down, the ability for other time slots is nonexistent," he said. "So we don't have any luxury of moving to September of 2021 or some part in 2022, which really wouldn't make a lot of sense because then you have the K show [the German event that's the world's most prominent plastics show] in 2022."

But holding big industrial trade shows has proven tricky thus far in the pandemic.

The Fakuma show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, which would have been Europe's largest plastics fair in 2020, said in July it was canceling its show planned for mid-October, after many exhibitors raised concerns.

Prominent plastics machinery firms, which are important financial supporters of these kinds of fairs, cited worries over health and safety for Fakuma attendees, including their own staff.

Some of those exhibitors had also noted concerns that COVID-19 would reduce attendance, particularly from outside Germany. Radoszewski acknowledged that travel bans by governments or companies could pose challenges for NPE.

"Forty percent of the attendees come from outside of the country, and if there's travel bans, that could be an issue," Radoszewski said. "If there's still corporate travel bans, that could be an issue. Those are things that we, at this point in time, you know, we would go crazy worrying about them."

"We recognize them. But as the days go on, I believe we're going to see much more improvement," he said.

"I think people are anxious to get back out and be with people," Radoszewski said. "We need that all-clear signal. I don't know what it is going to look like and who's going to give it, but we certainly need one. And I think we're going to find that people are going to be jazzed to come to NPE next May."

The association also said it's considering a virtual element to the show.

In a Sept. 8 email to exhibitors and interested parties, it said it was "evaluating a potential hybrid virtual component to the show to complement the live event, driving additional exhibitor and attendee value by broadening the attendance reach for NPE."

Registration for NPE2021 opened Sept. 10.

Radoszewski acknowledged that problems with NPE could have a financial impact on the association.

The Washington-based association gets a significant amount of its operating budget from NPE, according to public financial information it files with the Internal Revenue Service as part of its nonprofit status.

It typically uses proceeds from the show, which is held every three years, to fund operations in non-NPE years.

In 2009, when the steep recession caused cutbacks at NPE that year, the association was forced to lay off staff and restructure. A stimulus package it had put in place to help lower the cost of exhibiting at NPE2009 reduced its revenues by more than $3 million.

Radoszewski declined to discuss any contingency plans the association has now.

"We're so committed to going forward," he said. "We believe we're going to put on a great show, and we're going to do everything we can to make it the best show for our exhibitors, to bring as many eyes to them."