Next month, the Commercial Painting Industry Association will host its second annual CPIA Leadership Conference in conjunction with Technology Publishing Company’s hosted-buyer event, Commercial Contractor Connect.
Focusing solely on the commercial painting industry, both events will share recreational, educational and networking activities from Oct. 10-12; then Contractor Connect invitees will break off for private meetings on Oct. 13. Both events will take place at The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa in Henderson, Nevada.
See the combined agenda here.
Recreational Activities
This year, the CPIA and TPC have planned an array of world-class recreational activities where top commercial painting contractors and coatings suppliers can network while admiring some of the nation’s most beautiful natural settings and engineering features.
On Monday (Oct. 10), attendees have been given the option to participate in a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, courtesy of The Sherwin-Williams Company. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity requires that participants arrive on Sunday, Oct. 9.
Following the conference’s official kickoff on Tuesday (Oct. 11) with keynote speaker and three-time Olympian, Connor Fields, and several educational sessions, registrants will break out for a conference golf outing at the Reflection Bay Golf Club. A Jack Nicklaus Signature Design course, Reflection Bay has hosted the Wendy’s 3 Tour Challenge PGA event several times and has been the recipient of some of the most sought-after awards by industry magazines including Golf Magazine and Golf Digest.
Attendees have the option to opt-out of the golf outing and instead join their peers on a tour of the Hoover Dam and its surrounding area. The National Historic Landmark stands 726 feet tall and was built during the Depression in just under five years’ time.
The structure is one of the nation’s Severn Modern Civil Engineering Wonders by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
During the expert-led tour, attendees will learn about the history and take in the views of the dam’s massive exterior and surrounding sites in air-conditioned comfort while relaxing in captain seats.
As a bonus activity, on Friday (Oct. 14) registrants can also sign up to play golf at the Wolf Creek Golf Course in Mesquite, Nevada. This activity is very limited, however, requiring interested participants to sign up as early as possible.
Presenters & Panelists
Throughout the event, the conference will feature an array of respected speakers offering industry knowledge and business advice. In addition, co-hosts have also planned several opportunities for participants to discuss critical concerns in the commercial painting industry such as supply-chain forecasting and the retention of high-performing employees.
Following opening remarks by CPIA Co-Founders Aaron Moore and Steve Hester on Oct. 11, Fields will present a keynote address. The only American athlete to receive an Olympic Gold Medal for BMX Racing, Fields is known for his many accomplishments in professional sports and is a recognized inspirational speaker and performance strategist.
For the co-hosted event’s first session, Nick Higgins, General Manager of Operations at Higgins Coatings, will be discussing a presentation on paint recycling and maintenance. This will then segway into Moore’s roundtable, which focuses on how commercial contracting companies can grow their business.
The final session before breaking out for recreational activities is one of the event’s most popular, according to previous attendees. The Coatings Panel will feature the following coating supplier representatives:
Steve Wiezorek, Senior Vice President - Product Innovation, The Sherwin-Williams Company;
Andrew Theokas, Strategic Account Manager, National Accounts, Benjamin Moore;
Sheldon Roth, Corporate Accounts Sales Manager, PPG;
Paul Lavallee, Global Marketing Manager, Kynar Coatings – Arkema;
Terry Wallace, Vice President of Sales, Tex-Cote LLC; and
Josh Newman, Vice President - Southeast, Behr Paint.
During this panel, representatives will be asked about product offerings, customer relationships and the future of the manufacturing industry. Jim McBrayer, CEO of McBrayer & Associates, will be moderating the panel and accepting questions and comments from the audience accordingly as well.
On Wednesday (Oct. 12), Moore and Hester will start the morning with a recap and comment session, which will be followed by an Asset Panel. Panelists confirmed for this session (to date) include:
Tim Hauert, Director of Construction, Tradelane Properties;
Marni Chiero, Real Estate & Customer Experience Manager, Prologis; and
Christopher Sotiropulos, Vice President of Stadium Operations at Las Vegas Raiders.
Jon Dryfout, Owner, Sales/ Operations at HD Painting will be moderating the panel and accepting questions and comments from the audience as requested.
From this point, sessions will be split into tracks geared toward owners of commercial painting businesses and their key employees. A list of the conference’s confirmed educational speakers and their presentation topics are as follows:
Aaron Hockel, Partner and Vice President of AltaVista - Reported to be a contractor marketing expert, Hockel is slated to present a seminar on generating commercial repaint leads;
Richard H. and Cory B. Tanner, CEO and President, Exit IQ and Moreton Business Solutions – Both entrepreneurs with backgrounds in business, the Tanners will be discussing the keys to a successful high-value exit and what a business owner should do to prepare today regardless of where they are in their occupational journey;
Ricky Houghton, Robotics Executive at Finish Robotics – In his presentation, “Robotics and AI in Construction,” Hougton will provide an overview of Robotics and AI terminology, and questions contractors should be asking before adding robotic and/or AI systems into their workflows;
Annie Newton, Founder of ProfitWorks LLC Annie Newton – Described as a virtual and fractional service provider, Newton will teach attendees how to evaluate their staff positions, tasks, workflows, retain controls and accountability best practices to avoid the common pitfalls of traditional offshore solutions;
Kevin Brown, Technical Director for the Commercial Services Group, KTA-Tator Inc. – Known for his expertise in the implementation of maintenance programs for clients in the commercial sector, Brown will be offering a presentation on solutions for preventing paint failures related to workmanship and common building issues; and
Dwain DeVille, Founder/Navigator - The CEO Ride – Returning for his second CPIA Leadership Conference, DeVille will be heading a session on leadership development.
Before the educational offerings come to an end on Wednesday, both groups will come together for an EOS Case Study by McBrayer. Throughout his career and within his self-made company, McBrayer has helped owners and key executives of mid-sized companies in construction segments reach their vision of growth. McBrayer first started his career in outside sales for PPG Industries, and his claim to fame as a salesperson is selling the largest account in the company’s history.
Prior to closing, attendees will get the opportunity to submit questions and comments during a Technology Panel session, which will also be moderated by McBrayer. To date, the panel is expecting to feature representatives from Graco, Purdy and The Wooster Brush Company.
Elevation Awards
During a lunch ceremony on Oct. 12, CPIA representatives will be presenting the 2022 Elevation Awards. The sixth annual commercial honors program recognizes the best projects in the industry. Determined by a panel of five judges, the awards will be presented in the following categories:
New Construction;
Mixed-Used Commercial;
Multifamily/Residential High-Rise;
Institutional (Healthcare, Education, etc.);
Floor Coatings;
Ancillary/Misc. Services (Roof Coatings, Wallcovering, Fabric Panels, etc.); and
Judges' Choice Award.
To have been considered for the award, projects had to have been completed between Jan. 1, 2021, and July 15, 2022.
Attending Contractors & Sponsors
The 2022 CPIA Leadership Conference is expecting a large collection of leading commercial painting contractors from all over the world, in addition to global manufacturing giants. To date, attendees can expect to meet owners and key employees from the following contracting companies:
Accent Painting & Special Coatings;
Bell Decorating Group Limited;
Caligari Gerloff Painting, Inc.;
Kelley Painting Services of Florida, LLC;
Pacific Western Painting & Construction;
Service Contracting Solutions;
Sullivan Painting Service, Inc.;
TJ's Professional Painting and Construction, LLC;
Williams Professional Painting;
Wilson & Hampton; and
This year, sponsorships were broken into Platinum and Gold categories. In addition to sponsoring meals, receptions and other activities during the Leadership Conference, several suppliers have also confirmed prescheduled, one-on-one meetings with commercial painting contractors for the Contractor Connect portion of the event.
This year, the 2022 Platinum event sponsors include:
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades;
PPG;
Tex-Cote; and
The 2022 Gold event sponsors include:
Behr; and
The 2022 Sustaining and Ancillary sponsors and additional information can be viewed here. For more information on becoming a sponsor, please contact CPIA Executive Director Mike Stanley.
About Commercial Contractor Connect
While the Leadership Conference is open to all, the Connect event is limited to a selection of qualified buyers (commercial painting contractors) and sponsoring suppliers (coatings suppliers). The lure of the connect event is its unique one-on-one meetings.
To maintain an intimate setting for the event, Commercial Contractor Connect selects a limited number of painting contractors with qualified buying power to connect with sponsoring suppliers who provide the products and services they need.
Those who purchase coatings, equipment, supplies and services for their commercial painting contractor business are urged to apply now for consideration. To be considered, interested contracting companies must fill out the attached application here.
Suppliers in the commercial coatings industry are offered exclusive opportunities to participate as sponsors, building relationships with current and prospective customers in fun and productive ways.
Interested suppliers will have the option of becoming a Platinum or Silver sponsor. Details regarding these supporting sponsorships and their benefits can be found here.
