By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Though attendance was down slightly, the floor space was full at the March 24-25 Agri-Business Trade Fair held at The Forum in Presque Isle.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
Tristen Merchant, 2, of Caribou, enjoyed putting the “pedal to the metal” on this John Deere plastic pedal tractor with loader and wagon that was for sale at the Theriault Equipment booth Saturday at the 32nd annual Agri-Business Trade Fair at The Forum in Presque Isle. Hosted by the Fort Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, last weekend’s trade fair featured over 60 exhibitors. The event was deemed a success by organizers and vendors alike.
“Overall I think it was a good success for the chamber of commerce,” said Michael Bosse, executive director of the Fort Fairfield chamber, which hosted the event. “We sold out of booth spaces which was great from a revenue standpoint. We had over 60 exhibitors.
“Our crowds were down just a smidge. We were right around 3,300 people last year and we were just under 3,000 this year, so we were down about 10 percent,” he said, “but with eight or nine events going on over the weekend, it’s understandable. For example, March 25 was Maine Maple Sunday so the area sugar camps had an event and that might have pulled some people away.”
At the close of the show, vendors were given a questionnaire and Bosse said exhibitors were pleased with this year’s offerings.
“It was overwhelmingly positive,” he said of the feedback. “We ask them to rank different categories on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest, and from what I’ve seen so far, we got some 4s, but mostly 5s,” he said. “They really liked the new hours. This year we got rid of Friday evening hours and expanded the hours Sunday. If we make an adjustment, it will either be to lengthen or shorten Saturday evening … chances are we’ll shorten it. This year the show ran until 7 p.m.
“For spectators, they said it was a great show and it was good to see the educational component come back, as well as a lot of the farming implements,” said Bosse. “This year with the addition of Theriault Equipment, it really brought it back to an ag show, along with the seminars that we offered from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.”
This was the first time Airgas, headquartered in Radnor, Pa., was represented at the trade fair. Through its subsidiaries, Airgas, Inc. is the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases and hardgoods, such as welding equipment and supplies. Airgas is also a leading U.S. producer of atmospheric gases, carbon dioxide, dry ice and nitrous oxide, one of the nation’s largest distributors of safety products, and a leading U.S. distributor of refrigerants, ammonia products and process chemicals.
“We’ve been expanding in the Maine market. We’ve been in Maine a little over a year; our first location was in Portland and we’re working out of the Orrington and Bangor area,” said Brian Whiteside, account manager for Airgas East, Inc. “We’re looking to see what’s happening up here and what the competition is.
“Things went very well. People were very receptive and happy to see us. They’re interested in having more choices up here,” he said. “Attending trade fairs isn’t something we typically do; it’s something that the sales guys decided to do. It’s been an awesome experience up here. People have been very hospitable and we had a good time.”
A popular attraction at the Airgas booth was an Airgas Chopper motorcycle that was designed and built by Orange County Choppers (OCC) using Airgas gases and hardgoods.
“Airgas has been involved with OCC forever. One of our weld specialists in the New York area is friends with Paul Teutul Sr. and we started sponsoring the show when it started several years ago,” said Whiteside. “They built two bikes for us, and we use them at trade shows and as a way to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis, Operation Homefront and other charities.”
Bosse said the chamber is looking forward to the 33rd annual event, which will be held the last weekend of March 2013.
“We will make adjustments,” he said. “This year I concentrated on selling booth space; I wanted to make sure that the show was full. Next year, we will continue that concentration, but we will also emphasize what we can do to entice more of an audience.”
