Tower Cranes North America keynote

Why be in the tower crane business? That’s the question Christian Chalupny, president of Morrow Equipment Co, will answer in his keynote speech at the Tower Cranes North America (TCNA) conference in Miami on June 19.

“There is a lot of potential for our industry”, said Chalupny, “Tower cranes are more heavily used in Europe and Asia, so we still have the potential to grow in North America, offering towers where mobile or crawler cranes are being used.”Chalupny, who has worked in the North American tower crane market for more than 35 years, will consider both the challenges and the opportunities facing tower crane companies in North America.

Chalupny said the industry was also facing challenges. “I want to talk about the regulatory environment, and the issues of liabilities and risks. Tower crane rental companies have to be very careful about how risk is shared between the different players – rental companies, contractors, developers, owners. There are high risks, especially in downtown areas. That is a hot topic for us.

“I will also consider how the cyclical nature of the business impacts us. For example, the depression 10 years ago created huge issues. Cyclicality in our business is very high, so we have to be prepared for that as an industry.”

Chalupny will open the conference in Miami on June 19, with other speakers including Frank Bardonaro (Maxim Crane), JR Moran (B&G Equipment & Supply), Michael Rubin (Goldberg Segalla) and Peter Juhren (Morrow Equipment). For details see www.khl-tcna.com

The conference is organised by KHL Group and its magazines American Cranes & Transport (ACT) and International Cranes and Specialized Transport. The SC&RA is the official partner association.

Gold sponsors for the event are Demag/Terex, Jaso, Liebherr, Manitowoc and Wolffkran. Linden Comansa and Favelle Favco are silver sponsors and Morrow Equipment is the welcome sponsor. BlokCam is supporting sponsor.