CITY OF COMMERCE, CA — Over 30,000 industry professionals, drawn from 66 countries from around the world attended the 2007 AWFS Fair, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center July 18 – 22. Nine hundred and ten companies exhibited at the 2007 event, occupying 475,875 net square feet. The square footage represented an increase of 14% from 2005.

Other milestones included a 40% increase in the number of new products vying for Sequoia Awards, a 30% increase in the number of entries in the Fresh Wood Student Competition, a 45% increase in attendance at the Gala Awards Dinner and the successful inaugural debut of the National Belt Sander National Championships.

“AWFS’ goal is to continue to strengthen the value proposition of the AWFS Fair, building it into the most important woodworking supply and machinery industry show in the world,” said Skip Hem, AWFS president. “The 2007 event is now history and both the board and staff are already working on a number of creative and innovative ideas to make the 2009 event as vital, exciting and important as was 2007.”