Czarnowski is all about auto shows
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John Pugh, director of the automotive group at Czarnowski on the North Side, shows a display for the automaker Scion. Czarnowski is an international exhibit design and fabrication firm.
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In late January, President Barack Obama swung by the Washington Auto Show to check out some new wheels, although it's not clear yet when he might need to start driving his own car again.
Millions more Americans will be climbing inside the latest models this year as auto shows come and go around the country. Attendance at many shows is up 15 to 20 percent, according to the editor of The Auto Show Report, a newsletter that suspended operations back in recessionary 2008 and then returned in November as auto sales started recovering.
"People are feeling good about cars again," said Joe Rohatynski, an enthusiastic spokesman for the industry in addition to being editor of the newsletter of the Auto Shows of North America.
That's good news for the industry and for the companies that set up those auto show exhibits -- rapidly building massive, stylized platforms to turn the latest vehicular models into stars while also staying on budget and trying to make sure even the most curious toddler can't find a way to get in trouble.
PG VIDEOAt the Pittsburgh offices of Czarnowski, a Chicago-based exhibit business that employs about 20 people in its colorful space along Galveston Avenue on the North Side, they're all about auto shows. Well, not entirely, but 85 to 90 percent of the Pittsburgh office's work involves car manufacturers, according to John R Pugh, whose business card identifies him as director, automotive group, and general manager, Pittsburgh division.
Mr. Pugh said his division is quite willing to help with other types of companies' exhibits -- the staff has worked with Wesco and the U.S. Postal Service, and just pitched a health care customer -- but this office left the garage a decade ago in a Mini-Cooper and the cars still rule.
In 2002, Mr. Pugh and two other men were sitting in Sewickley as the business they had worked with was crumbling. They still had the account to handle exhibit marketing for the Mini-Cooper, although they weren't sure if the auto maker would stick around.
First Published February 8, 2012 12:00 am
