Welcome to the first year of our 40-year-old trade show.

Equip Exposition (formerly known as GIE+EXPO) officially launches this fall. With a new name and a new brand, we’re evolving OPEI’s trade show to best meet the needs of all our attendees—landscapers, dealers, retailers, hardscapers, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and everyone else who makes this industry work. Equip Exposition underscores that this trade show is the best place to equip yourself and your business for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Many of you may be thinking, what is OPEI? The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute has operated for 70 years as a trade association representing manufacturers of outdoor power equipment and their suppliers. Through our member committees, we develop and maintain product safety standards. Our staff also manages and operates OPEI Canada, the Outdoor Power Parts and Accessories Association, the TurfMutt Foundation, and—what you’re likely most familiar with—Equip Exposition.

OPEI is the voice of the industry. Our members are the companies that make the equipment you and your crews use every day in your business, and many of the exhibitors you’ll see on the floor and in the Outdoor Demo Yard this fall. OPEI started this trade show nearly 40 years ago in partnership with the city of Louisville, and we’ve worked together ever since.

Our TurfMutt Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to educate the public on the benefits of the managed landscape. Working with partners like Scholastic, Discovery, Weekly Reader, and now, Litton/Hearst and CBS broadcast television, the TurfMutt program has reached 70 million students, teachers, and families with its message that nature starts at their back door, and that they can save the planet one yard at a time.

So, after nearly four decades—and with a rebrand—why stay in Louisville? We believe in long-term partnerships, and we have one of the best with the city of Louisville. In fact, as we took full ownership of the trade show, we moved the Expo offices to a historic building on Main Street. Louisville is a city that’s easy for our attendees to get to, offers great entertainment and dining options, and it’s the only place in the country where we can have nearly 30 acres right out back to mow, cut, dig, and drive the latest equipment.

Throughout this magazine—and in the special Hardscape North America supplement dedicated to our partners at ICPI-NCMA—you’ll see what we’ve changed, what we’ve kept the same, and, ultimately, why you need to be in Louisville this October.

I’ll see you at Expo.

The Equip Expo Team
Equip Exposition is owned and managed by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. The trade show and the association represent decades of experience serving and advocating for the industry.

Equip Exposition and Outdoor Power Equipment Institute Senior Staff
Kris Kiser, President & CEO
Chuck Bowen, Vice President, Communications, Member Relations & Education Programming
Brian Corbett, Equip Exposition Director of Sales, Indoors
Richard Corbett, Equip Exposition Operations Manager
Evan Cox, Director of Digital Outreach & Social Media
Frances De Leon, Office Manager
Andy Embry, Louisville Office Manager
Hannah Finchum, Manager, Contracts & Show Operations
Laura Gipe, Manager, Hotels & Transportation
Heather Heishman, Database Manager
Sam Hodapp, Staff Accountant
Greg Knott, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs & Standards
Brandon Martin, Vice President, Battery & Electric Products and Industry Affairs
Dan Mustico, Senior Vice President, Government & Market Affairs
Marla Popkin, Director, Meetings
Suzanne Shomers, Vice President, Finance & Administration
Karen Williams, Senior Vice President, Partnerships & Development
Troy Winebrenner, Equip Exposition Show Director

OPEI 2022–2023 Board of Directors
Chair: Brian Melka, Group President—Power, Kohler Co.
Vice Chair: Robert McCutcheon, President, Husqvarna North America
Secretary/Treasurer: Mike Clancy, CEO, Chervon North America
Immediate Past Chair: Tom Duncan, Executive Board Member, Positec USA, Inc.
Equip Exposition Show Chairman: Dan Ariens, Chairman and CEO, AriensCo

Other Directors:
Steve Andrews, President and CEO, Briggs and Stratton
Tim Dorsey, President, Echo Inc.
Peter Hampton, President and CEO, Active Exhaust Corp.
Terry Horan, President and CEO, STIHL Inc.
Rick Olson, Chairman and CEO, The Toro Company
Lee Sowell, President, Outdoor Products, Techtronic Industries Power Equipment
David Thorne, Vice President, Turf & Compact Utility Business Unit, John Deere
John Wyatt, Senior Vice President & President of Outdoor, Stanley Black & Decker