Wall Street Journal All-Stars Mark Koznarek, partner/research analyst with Cleveland Research Group, and Eli Lustgarten, senior research analyst at Longbow Research, headline a powerhouse line-up of thought leaders addressing C-level decision-makers from the construction equipment industry next month at the AED/QUALCOMM Executive Forum in Chicago. Distributors, manufacturers, lenders/service providers, and investors are invited to reserve seats for the Sept. 11-12 conference at http://www.aednet.org/execforum.

Probing the many recessionary dimensions of the "perfect storm" battering the business community -- and specifically multimillion-dollar capital equipment companies -- the analysts are joined by Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey, Washington D.C.'s federal highway funding insider Jack Schenendorf, and acclaimed distribution consultant and author, Dr. Adam Fein.

Political commentator Paul Green -- featured regularly on Chicago's WGN radio station and a frequent source for such news organizations as New York Times, Washington Post, Time, and Newsweek -- mixes his election conjecture with possible policy scenarios equipment businesses can anticipate from the next Congress and Administration. International family business adviser and author Dana Telford, long-time construction industry researcher Frank Manfredi, as well as emissions expert Michael Buckantz from Justice & Associates round out the timely day-and-a-half conference at the Westin O'Hare.

Economy, elections, emissions, housing and banking crises, fuel costs, labor shortages and more have brewed together to create an historically unprecedented burden on the industry that literally shoulders the horsepower supplying the U.S. residential, commercial, roads and bridges, manufacturing, public works and water infrastructure, hotel/leisure, education, and mining sectors, and more.

A rapid-rotation of presentations and panels, interspersed with audience polling and Q&A, the Forum is moderated by distribution expert Mike Marks, principal and managing partner of Indian River Consulting Group, recently named a Distribution Research Education Foundation Research Fellow by the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.

One of the event's most intriguing sessions is the Forum's panel of manufacturing executives from China who take the stage late Thursday afternoon, Sept. 11, to answer questions about their strategies for bringing Chinese construction equipment into the U.S. marketplace.

About AED

AED is an association of independent distributors, manufacturers and other organizations involved in the distribution of construction equipment and related products and services in North America and throughout the world. AED members sell, service and rent equipment to markets that include heavy and light construction, mining, agriculture, forestry, aggregates, engines and industrial.

SOURCE Associated Equipment Distributors (AED)

http://www.aednet.org