The sixth edition of Techtextil North America took place April 21 to 23, 2009 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was the first ever edition on the West Coast and organisers say that it resulted in the majority of exhibitors and visitors being pleasantly surprised and pleased despite the current economic conditions. Techtextil North America was previously held only on even years in Atlanta, Georgia but will now be held annually, alternating between Atlanta in the even years and a Western region site in the odd years.

The 2009 event hosted 118 exhibitors from 15 countries, while the total verified attendance reached 1,300 from 34 countries. The show also welcomed four international pavilions from Canada, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

“The goal in moving Techtextil North America to an annual event was to reach a new audience. In looking at our final figures, 25% of our 2009 exhibitors were brand new to the event and 28% of our U.S. visitors were from the Western Region. Since only 4% of our visitors at the 2008 event were from the Western Region, we are certainly on the right track to bringing Techtextil North America to a new audience of both exhibitors and visitors,” stated David Audrain, President of Messe Frankfurt USA.

Symposium 2009

The Techtextil North America Symposium was held concurrently with the show. The program featured 13 primary sessions containing a total of 72 presentations from industry leaders on topics such as materials technology, defence textiles, nonwovens, composites, nanotechnology, medical textiles and performance/protection textiles.

Dr. Barbara Pause, President of Textile Testing Solutions who chaired two of the sessions commented, “I really enjoyed the program and in my opinion it was one of the best conferences I have participated in for a long time.”

A highlight of the 2009 Symposium was the opening general session which focused on the current state of and what the future will hold for the technical textiles industry. Bill Smith, Techtextil North America Symposium Director, summarized, “The opening general session featured outstanding presentations highlighted by the keynote Richard Black, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Performance Fibers and Tom Murphy, Executive Vice President of RSM McGladrey, Inc.

Black pointed out we must think outside the box in finding new opportunities with successful companies applying innovation and application of technology as corporate culture commitments, Black says we must dream to excite our business. The cheapest product is not necessarily the best product. Murphy astonished the audience with figures showing the manufacturing base in the USA has remained quite steady in the last 30 years with a 25% share of world manufacturing output.

While the media declares the current economic crisis as the "worst since the Great Depression" of the 30's, Murphy's data shows that simply is not true. We've had 8 recessions since then with 1983 featuring higher unemployment and inflation and 1974 with much greater job and manufacturing losses. His projection? We will bottom out by the 4th quarter of 2009 and move into plus numbers in 2010.”

Techtextil North America 2010

The 2010 edition of Techtextil North America is scheduled to take place May 18 to 20 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia as part of a new co-location effort which will include ATME-I/MEGATEX and SPESA Expo under the umbrella name of Textile and Sewn Products Industry Week.

The three shows will take place in adjacent halls during the same dates, providing tremendous value for textile and sewn products industry professionals at all levels of the textile and sewn products manufacturing and application supply chains.  This new concept will create a truly “must attend” industry event for the Americas in 2010. Atlanta is a vibrant international hub which is easily accessed by exhibitors and visitors alike, providing the perfect setting for such a significant industry gathering.

The co-location and alignment means that attendees will be able to move freely between the individual shows and benefit from the industry-leading educational and networking seminars and special events all in the same venue. Techtextil North America represents all vertical aspects of the technical textile industry from research and development, through raw materials and production processes, to conversion, further treatment and recycling.

Attendee Statements

Fiber Economics Bureau, Frank Horn, President:

“The Exhibition and the Symposiums were very informative. There is always much to learn!”

Honda R&D Americas, Inc., Mary Dovell, Engineer:

 “This was the first time I attended Techtextil North America and it was very worthwhile. I came in search of new applications for the automotive sector and also attended the full Symposium.”

Northwest Podiatric Lab, Inc., Yvonne Carson, Purchasing:

 “This was my first time visiting Techtextil North America and I had decided to attend because our suppliers of thin, highly-engineered films are no longer able to provide us with the products that we need. My visit to the show generated a couple of new supplier leads that I am very hopeful about.”

SANS Technical Fibers, LLC, John Nagle, Vice President:

 “The hallmark of Techtextil North America is the quality of the participants, both exhibitors and visitors. If asked if I would attend the Las Vegas edition of Techtextil North America again, under the exact same circumstances, my answer would be yes.”

Safariland, LLC, Bob Spriggs, CPIIM, CSCP, Director, Global Sourcing and Supply Chain:

 “In one day I met key suppliers and found new opportunities. I did not attend the Symposium but some of my people did and they felt the time was very worthwhile.”

Textile Engineering & Manufacturing (TEAM), Inc., Jim Kaufmann, Engineering Manager:

 “The Techtextil North America Symposium topics and presenters were very good and also relevant to the industry today and its future.”

Exhibitor Quotes

Allertex of America Ltd., Alistair Deas, Vice President of Sales, USA:

“Though smaller than we expected, Techtextil North America 2009 ended up being a great use of our time. The quality of the visitors over the three days was good - people that were in the position to make decisions.”

Intelligent Textiles Limited (Representing: Lincoln Fabrics), Asha Peta Thompson, Director, Canada:

“At Techtextil North America 2009 we were able to see many of our West Coast clients that we would not have seen otherwise. The quality of the attendees was very good.”

International Resource & Design, LLC (Representing: Colotex Industrial Co., Ltd.), Robert Parker, Taiwan:

“We felt very positive about exhibiting in the 2009 event. We saw prospective clients from the west coast and north east as well as the southeast. The show was a great opportunity for us to introduce our products to new markets.”

The Nonwovens Institute, Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Distinguished Professor, USA:

 “I met companies that I had never met before and made some fantastic contacts. It was well worth the effort and we will not miss the opportunity next year to be there as well.”

Polimeros y Derivados, Jesus Rodriguez, Export Sales, Mexico:

 “Techtextil North America 2009 was a great investment opportunity and the best show to participate in to meet North American companies in the technical textiles industry.”

Purification Products, Ltd., Quentin Mackenzie, Managing Director, United Kingdom:

 “At Techtextil North America in Las Vegas we saw high quality attendees, exactly the right people in the right sectors we were trying to reach - decision makers in many different fields.”

Sawgrass Technologies, Jim Kraschel, Western Regional Sales Manager, USA:

“This was our first time exhibiting with Techtextil North America and I am glad to report that we were pleasantly surprised with the turnout of the event. The leads we received were very qualified and at the end of the day that is what matters most.”

T.J. Beall Company, Julian Beall, President, USA:

 “The quality of the attendees at Techtextil North America 2009 was excellent. Our interest was in meeting with companies in the nonwoven sector, more specifically the spun lace and needle punch areas. Techtextil North America 2009 enabled us to meet face to face with the right decision makers from companies that we had been trying to meet for a while.”