WESTPORT, Conn. — After a six year hiatus from the West Coast and an 11-year absence from Southern California, the 2004 Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo), set for Anaheim, Calif., January 26-28, is already generating strong interest, according to show management.

More than 1,200 companies have reserved space for the 2004 Expo, including approximately 300 co-exhibitors/cross-listings, says International Exposition Company, which produces and manages the expo. With nine months to go before the event, exhibit space is more than 80 percent sold, which surpasses the 239,000 square feet of space reserved for the last show in Anaheim.

Clay Stevens, president of International Exposition Company, attributes some of this early interest to the fact that the event has not been to Southern California for more than a decade. The last West Coast AHR Expo was held in San Francisco in 1998, and the last show in Anaheim was 1992.

“The West Coast represents one of the largest HVACR markets in the country,” Stevens pointed out. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) also has one of its largest membership bases in the Western states, made up of several active local chapters. The Southern California chapter is planning a major membership event at Disneyland in conjunction with the show.

For more information, visit www.ahrexpo.com.

Publication date: 05/05/2003