Looking back and ahead at aggregate industry events

Yanik

I penned my column this month right before the Pit & Quarry staff headed off to Las Vegas for ConExpo-Con/Agg.

The five-day trade show capped a whirlwind of first-quarter travel for me. The very first week of 2023 included a trip to Las Vegas, where Luck Stone and Caterpillar converged at CES and shared their plans to outfit 777G trucks with unique tech that should allow them to operate autonomously.

The 2023 Pit & Quarry Roundtable & Conference also took place in January, taking the magazine’s staff to Miami where a record number of attendees gathered for our annual event. We have a thorough recap of the Roundtable available in our 36-page supplement this month. The supplement details who joined P&Q in Miami and presents insights from aggregate producers, equipment manufacturers and others about hot-button industry topics.

Another first-quarter adventure was a trip to Atlanta, where the Georgia Construction Aggregate Association (GCAA) put on another successful Management Workshop & Expo. Chris Ward, president and CEO of Heidelberg Materials, addressed those at the GCAA event, touching on his company’s recent rebranding and two trends – sustainability and digitalization – that are here to stay.

A week after the Atlanta meeting, I found myself in Denver walking MineXchange, the SME Annual Conference & Expo. A mining show by nature, MineXchange presented plenty of opportunities to catch up with equipment manufacturers with interests in aggregates and hear about their plans for ConExpo-Con/Agg.

The trip to Denver also afforded me the chance to visit the National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum in Leadville, Colorado. The museum has partnered with the magazine on the Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame since 2015, housing replica plaques of our 36 inductees.

Looking ahead

With another ConExpo-Con/Agg in the books, my next travel opportunity is the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association’s Young Leaders Annual Meeting, which takes place April 23-26 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Outside of that, my calendar opens up this spring and I’ll be looking to get into aggregate operations across the U.S. to bring new stories to life on the pages of Pit & Quarry. If your operation has something exciting or unique to share with us, reach out and let us know why we should visit.

Featured Photo: P&Q Staff