The property development group behind Cleveland’s medical mart has hired a 30-year trade show and meetings industry veteran to be general manager of the Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center.
Brian Casey’s duties will include attracting trade shows, clients and events to the medical mart and convention center, which is scheduled to open in 2013, according to a statement from MMPI, the medical mart’s Chicago-based developer.
Casey previously was CEO of the High Point Market Authority, which oversees permanent showroom space in High Point, North Carolina, home of the largest trade show in the world for the home furnishings industry. High Point hosts about 85,000 people for the show every six months.
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Casey has held the CEO role with High Point since 2006. In that role, he was responsible for the marketing and operations of about 12 million square feet of showroom and exhibition space.
He’ll begin his job with MMPI on May 2. MMPI manages several buildings at High Point.
Casey said the job with MMPI was “a career move and a unique opportunity for me,” the Raleigh-Durham Business Journal reported. Casey leaves High Point at a time of uncertainty for the market, as the three largest showroom complexes undergo ownership changes that could bring them together with the rival World Market Center in Las Vegas, according to the Business Journal.
The Greensboro News & Record credited Casey with leading a number of improvements at High Point Market during his tenure, including better transportation services, more entertainment, more amenities and unified registration.
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“MMPI has worked with Brian Casey for years and knows firsthand his vast array of knowledge and experience in attracting and producing trade shows, while providing the highest level of customer service possible to his tenants,” said Mark Falanga, a senior vice president with MMPI.
MMPI appears to be making solid progress on the medical mart, having begun construction in January. Later that month, the Chicago company announced 57 planned tenants and 31 trade shows for the mart and convention center.
