If you have any doubt about who really builds small business or the uniqueness that defines American entrepreneurship, I suggest you make plans to attend the next Connections. You hear a lot of talk from the naysayers these days about capitalism being on the decline and climbing the ladder to independence in the U.S. being something for the history books, but I saw up close and personal how blatantly foolishness those claims are at the 2012 edition of the show in Las Vegas.
Who attends Connections? The crowd included contractor owners, managers and employees of companies involved in carpet and upholstery cleaning and restoration, water and fire damage, mold remediation and trauma scene cleanup. There were also janitorial companies and companies involved in duct cleaning. Incidentally this year’s event was the biggest ever from both an attendee and exhibitor standpoint, with over 315 exhibitors.