The team to beat: Kraft Groveport's winning drivers

Organisers are expecting more than 70 competitors at the 2008 US Open Forklift Rodeo and Safety Expo to be held at the Clark County Fairgrounds on November 7 and 8.

Event spokesman Dick Higgins says while the Rodeo is not the only one of its type, it is the biggest and most sophisticated.

"That's what's setting us apart from other rodeos," he says.

Last year, 75 individuals competed and there have been as many as 105 in the event sponsored by the Safety Council, which is supported by the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

"For a lot of companies, the forklift is the number one way they get in trouble by having mishaps and having people hurt, so it draws quite a bit of attention from a safety standpoint," says Higgins, who relinquished the title of chairman this year to Don Amburgey, safety and facility manager at Kreider Corp.

Originally, the rodeo was for Clark County companies but that changed after Fox River Paper in Champaign County called and asked if it could enter. Before long, teams from Sidney and Piqua entered, then Middletown, Canton, Newark and other parts of the state.

Kraft, the winner the last two years, is from Groveport. A Kraft plant in Florida has shown interest, as have three teams from Miller Brewing in Milwaukee.

Other teams have come from as far as Indiana, Kentucky and Iowa. Higgins laughs at the memory of the Iowa team that came in thinking they were going to dominate the competition, but went home empty-handed.

So impressed was the Bureau of Workers' Compensation's Division of Hygiene and Safety with the idea, that it created a state competition based on the local rodeo. The state rodeo has since been discontinued, after which the local event changed its name to the US Open, expanding its reach to all who want to participate.

Organisers have paid tribute to Forkliftaction.com, saying the portal's sponsorship has helped publicise the event and helped raise awareness.

One of the recent changes in the competition was to move from four- to two-person teams, allowing smaller companies an opportunity to compete. Even though there are teams, individual points are also accumulated and awards given.

Other sponsors are KMH Systems of Dayton, the area Yale dealer, which provides the forklifts, Cascade Corp., the Springfield-Clark County Safety Council, Sentry Protection Products and the Higgins Group.

Entries close soon, and for more information or to register, phone 937-325-7858.