Sheet metal and air conditioning contractors will discover new market opportunities, innovative product lines, and business strategies at the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association’s (SMACNA) 68th Annual Convention in Colorado Springs, Colo., this September.

Featured speaker, futurist Dr. Lowell Catlett will share what’s in store down the economic road during the convention’s opening session. Dr. Thomas Schleifer will offer fail-safe survival strategies and show contractors how to remain financially viable during another plenary session.

A line-up of timely business programs—led by industry experts Ted Garrison, Charlie Greer, Ron Magnus, Terry Mathis, and Dennis Sowards—will share how to bounce back from adversity, boost profitability, apply integrated project delivery, and select the next generation of leaders.

Four Market Sector Forums will deliver customized sessions tailored to meet the needs of contractors in the HVAC, industrial, residential, and architectural markets. They include:

 - Architectural Contractors Forum: “Architectural Metals Opportunities in Whole Building Envelope Systems,” highlighting how contractors can embrace whole building enclosure systems.

 - HVAC Contractors Forum: “Improving Project Productivity—Communication is the Key” by Thomas Williams of McKenney’s Inc. and Nick Dodt of Waldinger Corp.

 - Industrial Contractors Forum: “Industrial Fab Productivity—Breakthrough Performance through Lean Practices” with lean expert Dennis Sowards and “An Overview of HVAC Requirements in the Nuclear Market” by Thomas Szymczak and Mark Saucier of SSM Industries Inc. and Steve Wood of Superior Air Handling.

 - Residential Contractors Forum: “Techniques to Increase Sales and Productivity,” with “HVAC Sales Survival School” author Charlie Greer.

Also during the convention, SMACNA’s highly anticipated Product Show will demonstrate the best hot, new technologies, products, and services in the industry.

SMACNA’s 68th Annual Convention takes place at the five-star Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo., Sept. 25-28, 2011.

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