The Ultimate Lawn Care Business Event: Equip Expo 2026 Preview with Kris Kiser
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello and welcome to the Green Industry Podcast, your go-to guide for building a more profitable and thriving lawn care and landscaping business. Your host, Paul Jameson, is the author of five bestselling books, including Cut That Grass and Make That Cash, and his latest, Level Up Your Money. All available on Amazon and Audible. Now, get ready for more expert insights and practical strategies. to boost your business and level up your life. Here's Paul Jameson.
Today on the program, we're gonna hear from the president and the CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. And since they took over the Equip Expo full ownership in 2022, they have been breaking records year after year from the attendance to the uh indoor exhibit space. And there's some big news uh about Orlando. So we're gonna hear straight from the boss's mouth himself, Chris Kaiser. Welcome back to the show. Yeah.
Oh, thanks for having me, Paul. Appreciate it. Nice to be with you.
Well, since the last time we've talked, the uh big announcement about uh two city rotation has uh been uh big news in our industry. So I want to get the uh backstory and why this is taking place straight from the horse's mouth here. So can you explain to us why we're you're headed to sunny Orlando, Florida?
You bet. As you know, we've been um The show has been expanding in a meaningful way since we did take full ownership and brought management in-house. It's been a terrific run. As you know, when uh we took it in 2-2. In two, three, we began winning awards uh for the first time in the show's history uh from Trade Show Executive. Um we've gotten a number of them, including greatest trade show ever in 24. Um, and we've grown. And so one of the challenges is we're now the number three event moneymaker for the city of Louisville. Uh we booked 40,000 hotel room nights. Um there are bigger events, but not big money events like ours. The other challenge, so we're challenged on space, right? So we've sold out our last three years and 1.2 million square feet.
So one of the one we're one of the largest shows in the country. Uh there are very few facilities that can handle us space-wise. Um, we were getting tight on hotel rooms, and in particular, many. Manufacturers now, with the success of the show, had wanted to do dealer meetings, right? And so if you get a major, major member, major exhibitor that wanted to do a dealer meeting. what can be five, ten thousand people easy. Uh we just simply didn't have the room for it. Um and so what we we began looking at
Why is Equip Expo the ultimate cheat code for scaling a lawn care business?
What how can we preserve uh our history in Louisville? You know, we have a terrific show here, and the outdoor space, our ability to dig is very unique. That Louisville is a one-of-a-kind space uh where you can dig, right? Outdoors. And so we decided on a rotation. Orlando gives us in one year the ability to have very, very large hotel properties. Very large external meetings in conjunction with the show. We have some interest in globalizing the show. A lot of interest from folks in Japan and Europe and China wanting to get here. That makes it much simpler in Orlando. So we looked at it and said the two-year rotation is likely the best option, a little of both. And so in 2-9, we'll begin a two-city rotation.
2-9 will be in Orlando, back to Louisville 30, back to Orlando. And we'll see how that works. So we've got contracts through three three.
Awesome. Well I go to the PGA show every January in Orlando. It is it is such a seamless experience. I my hotel connects with the Skyway to the convention center on that road there. I'm drawing a blink of what that main road's name is. Um maybe International. Yeah, International Drive. You got every restaurant you could imagine off. Naylor and I went to Fogo de Chow and it's like un unlimited. limited uh stake and everything and and there was so many options for for dining right there on the international uh drive and then all the hotels that are right next to there they connect to the convention center so I mean it was it was eighty and sunny so it wasn't a big deal to walk outside if you had to but you could literally go from your hotel room to the convention center.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–2:32
2
Why is Equip Expo the ultimate cheat code for scaling a lawn care business?
2:32–4:15
3
What prompted the two‑city rotation between Louisville and Orlando?
4:15–6:51
4
How is space scarcity driving the move to Orlando for larger hotel capacity?
6:51–16:47
5
What new venue changes and expansions are planned for the 2026 show?
16:47–24:53
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Green Industry Podcast
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