The East Coast Sawmill and Logging Equipment Exposition will be held May 16-17 in Richmond, Va.
The biennial trade show, sponsored by the Virginia Forest Products Association and the Virginia Tech Extension Service, will feature exhibits of the newest and most advanced machinery, equipment and technology for loggers, sawmills, lumber remanufacturing and the pallet industry. The trade show, also known as the Richmond Expo, will be the largest exposition of such equipment in the Eastern U.S. during 2008.
Exhibit space sales for the trade show have been brisk, according to the association. More than 250 exhibitors had contracted for almost 90% of the outdoor space and 85% of the indoor space by Feb. 29, the association reported.
A high percentage of companies that exhibited at Richmond Expo in 2006 already have signed up for the 2008 show.
“The large number of repeat exhibitors indicates that the Richmond show continues to be a valuable, cost-effective sales and marketing opportunity for the exhibiting companies,” the association said in a statement.
The Richmond Expo is held on the grounds of Richmond International Raceway with over 12 acres of outdoor exhibit space and hundreds of booths indoors. The trade show features over 500,000 square feet of equipment exhibits.
Many suppliers provide active product demonstrations with machinery operating under actual conditions. Active displays include logging equipment, pallet recycling equipment, automated pallet nailing machines, sawmills and lumber remanufacturing.
The Richmond Expo is free to people in the forest products industry who register in advance; an admission fee is charged to people who register at the show.
Advance registration may be done at a Web site, www.exporichmond.com.
For more information on attending or exhibiting at the Richmond Expo, contact the Virginia Forest Products Association at (804) 737-5625 or e-mail vfpa.mike@att.net.
Stimulus Plan Gives New Tax Breaks on Equipment
Businesses get tax breaks to invest in capital equipment as part of the economic stimulus plan approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush earlier this year.
The stimulus package will pay most individual taxpayers $600 and $1,200 for married taxpayers filing joint returns providing they are below certain income caps. There is also a $300 tax credit per child. Those rebates will put about $120 billion into the hands of consumers in hopes they will spend it and boost the economy.
However, the stimulus plan also includes key provisions for businesses. The tax relief for businesses takes two forms.
First, businesses are eligible for 50% bonus depreciation for new capital expenditures, such as machine tools ordered into service in 2008.
Second, write-offs for purchases of new and used equipment in 2008 were increased.
The Association of Manufacturing Technology was one of the business groups that lobbied for the stimulus package. The provisions “will help many of our AMT member companies and their customers increase their productivity,” said association president John Byrd.
The bonus depreciation gives businesses an extra one-year increase in how much they can deduct for capital expenditures like equipment that normally would depreciate over time. For example, under the old law, a new $100,000 machine could only provide a 2008 depreciation deduction of 14% of its cost, or $14,000, according to the AMT. Under the economic stimulus legislation, first-year depreciation can be $57,000 – 50% of the $100,000 machine cost ($50,000) plus 14% regular depreciation on the remaining $50,000 property basis, or $7,000. The new law in effect creates a 43% greater tax deduction for a new 2008 machine.
Also, the increased expensing for small business nearly doubled the amount they can write off for new or used equipment purchased in 2008 – from $128,000 to $250,000. The new law also significantly increases the amount that can be purchased during the year and still receive the full benefits of the expensing option – from the previous cap of $510,000 to $800,000.
“Beyond that, the increased, expensing allows the new 50 percent bonus depreciation to be taken on the remaining basis of the equipment if it’s new,” said Byrd. “These two provisions in the economic stimulus package are enormous benefits to our members and their customers.”
