◼ COVID-19 / BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek March 16, 202034
○ The longest line at ConExpo, the largest
constructionconventioninNorthAmerica,is the
linetograbbeer.AsthebottlesofBudweiserand
BudLightflyoverthecounter,thecashieratthe
beerstationsayssheneedstoruntothebathroom.
“I’mgettinga littleterrified,”shesays.“Ididn’t
seeanyhandsanitizerthewholetimeI washand-
ingoutbeers.”
Thebeerseller,likethevastmajorityofattendees
attheconference,whichtakesup2.7millionsquare
feetofspace,wasconcernedaboutthetransmission
ofcoronavirusasabout130,000attendeesconverged
onLasVegasonMarch 10 forthisonce-every-three-
yearsevent.Butforher—andplannersofmanytrade
showsandeventsthataregoingforwarddespitethe
pandemic—theshowmustgoon.
Evenascollegecampusesareshiftingclasses
online,sportsteamsarecompetingbeforeempty
arenas,andgovernmentsfromItalytoWashington
statearerestrictingmassgatherings,manyAmerican
industries—includingconstruction—aretryingto
goaboutbusinessasusual.Inthecaseofthehuge
ConExposhow,planswerejusttoofaralongwhen
virusfearsbegantotakeholdintheU.S.
Moreover,giventhethree-yeargapbetween
confabs,thisjointexhibitionofconstructionand
miningequipmentcouldn’tbeeasilypostponed.
Soclients,potentialnewcustomers,anddealers
foreverythingfrombackhoesandcementmixers
tocranesandroad-pavementgeartrekkedtoVegas
tododealsandgeta pulseonthemarketamidan
unprecedentedpublic-healthcrisis.●Whywouldanyonegotoatrade
showwith130,000attendeesduring
aburgeoningpandemic?“It’sa goodchancetoknowthenewtechnology
andfigureoutwhatworksbetterforourcompany,”
saysJeffHerington,a projectmanagerestimatorat
InRoadsPavingLLCinDesMoines.“Youcantalk
onthephoneandemail,butit’sjustdifferentto
speakfacetoface,andwhenyouhavethecom-
panyhereyoucangetbetteranswers.”
It’seasytoseewhyconstructionfolksareeager
tokeepmeetingandgreeting.Demandis smoking.
Theindustryadded42,000jobsinFebruary,help-
ingpushtheoverallU.S.unemploymentratedown
to3.5%,a 50-yearlow.Theconventionis alsoa mas-
siveshowcaseforCaterpillar,JohnDeere,Komatsu,
VolvoGroup,andotherglobalcompaniestodisplay
their latest products and technologies to buyers
from around the world.
Still, soldiering on during a pandemic requires
some accommodations. Hand sanitizer stations are◀ “No Offense,
Just Makes Sense”prominent,asareexhortationstobecarefulwith
coughs.Andtheshow’sorganizershaveinstituted
a no-handshakepolicy,completewithbuttonsthat
showa slashmarkovera drawingofclaspedpalms.
That’sa bigchangeforanindustrywherehandshak-
ingandbackslappingis stillverymuchinvogue,
butalternativeslikefistbumpsandfootshakesare
catchingonamongattendees.Industrybigwigs
aregettingintotheact:ChiefExecutiveOfficerJim
UmplebyofCaterpillarInc.,oneoftheworld’slarg-
estmachineryproducers,greetspeoplebybumping
elbows,whileMikeBallweber,presidentofBobcat
NorthAmerica,prefers“shouldershimmies.”
Thatdoesn’tmeanthevirusisn’tonpeople’s
minds.“Wehaven’tseenanythingslowingdownor
theneedtodoanythingdifferent,butwehavethis
blackswanoutthere,andwe’retryingtolookatit
andunderstandwhattodo,”saysBallweber,whose
farmandconstructionequipmentcompanyis part
ofSouthKorea’sDoosanGroup.“Justthismorning
I waswithdealerstotalktothem,andthat’sthecon-
versationI’vehadwitheveryoneofthem.They’re
notoblivioustothenews.”
Volvo,though,is onemajormanufacturerthat
decideddaysbeforetheshow’sstartthatit wasn’t
coming.Instead,it senta skeletoncrewoflocal
employeestoexhibititsgear,whichhadalready
beendeliveredtothevenue.AlthoughCaterpillar
chosetoattend,it allowedemployeestochoose
tostayhome. Butitsays a lotofanalysts and
shareholders—whocometohearpresentations,
seenewproducts,andschmoozewithcompany
executives—didn’tshowupbecauseofthevirus.
“Alotofinvestorsdidn’tcome,thatwouldbe
theonethingthat’sprobablydifferentthisyear,”
saysChiefFinancialOfficerAndrewBonfield.He
saysthatif investorscouldinsteadarrangemeet-
ingswithmanagersatCat’sheadquartersoutside
Chicago,“theywouldprobablytakethatrather
thancometoa verylargeeventwheretheymay
needtoself-quarantine afterwards.”
A group called Women of Asphalt, which pro-
motes female participation in the constructionWhat I’m
telling zoo
visitors
Benjamin Tan, deputy
CEO of Wildlife
Reserves Singapore,
which runs the
Singapore Zoo
It’soutdoors,andthe
crowdsarelight,soit’s
actually pretty safe.
We think it’s important
to have commonsense
measures. As much
as we are open for
business, the last
thing we want is to
have cases spreading
here. We are telling
colleagues, “If you
aren’t feeling well,
please stay home.”
All surfaces are
disinfected regularly.
There’s temperature
screening in every park,
including back-of-
house areas.
The coronavirus
being linked to
zoological disease
has produced some
anxiety. We are against
the wildlife trade. Let’s
not confuse that with
animals that are well
cared for. We’re also
telling people it is safe
to share spaces with
animals—our animals
are regularly assessed
by caregivers and
vets. �As told to
Joanna Ossinger