Salt Lake City · October 2026

FABTECH 2026 runs October 21–23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Four of us from Black Star Syndicate, The Bennett Group, Performance Driven Marketing and Blue Sky Advisors are going, and we’re walking the floor for our network at no cost. Three days after the show ends, Utah kicks off 47G’s first Hard Tech Week. We plan to bring what we find in Las Vegas straight into that week.

The work behind hard tech

Utah talks a lot about aerospace, defense, space and advanced manufacturing. Most of that conversation is about the finished product: the aircraft, the satellite, the vehicle, the system.

Every one of those products starts with someone who cuts, forms, welds or finishes metal. Fabrication shops, machine builders, tooling suppliers and finishing operations sit underneath the whole industry. When they’re strong, programs move. When a part, a machine or a qualified supplier is missing, everything downstream waits.

That’s why this part of the industry matters to us. According to 47G, aerospace and defense make up about 20% of Utah’s economy, support roughly 500,000 direct and indirect jobs, and generate around $100 billion in total economic output. A lot of that work runs through shops most people never hear about.

Why FABTECH

FABTECH is North America’s largest show for metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing. This year it’s back in Las Vegas for the first time in 10 years, which puts it a short trip from Utah and the rest of the Mountain West.

• 1,500+ exhibitors on 700,000+ square feet of floor
• 180+ education sessions
• Live equipment demos
• Event partners include AWS, FMA, SME, PMA and IFCA

A show like this puts a whole supply chain in one building for three days. You can watch the machine run, ask the hard question, and meet the person who can answer it. That’s hard to do over email.

It’s also a lot of ground. Most shops can’t send people for three days, and the ones that do can’t cover every aisle.

Why we’re doing it

Black Star Syndicate’s work is putting the right people in the same room. FABTECH is one very big room. We’re going anyway, so it makes sense to work it for the people back home.

Utah’s hard tech growth also depends on more than Utah. Our network is building in aerospace, defense, energy and critical infrastructure. Those companies need suppliers, equipment and partners, and many of them will be on the FABTECH floor. Utah’s manufacturers need buyers and partners too. Our job is to connect the two and then get out of the way.

What we’re doing at the show

Walking the floor for our network. Members and partners tell us which suppliers, machines, buyers or partners they want to meet. We find them, have the conversation, and report back. There’s no charge for this.

Meeting exhibitors before and during the show. That gives us a head start on the conversations you ask for. It also puts more companies in front of us that may be a fit for someone back home.

Black Star Syndicate leads the trip. PDM joins us and provides the marketing consult described below.

Straight into Hard Tech Week

FABTECH ends October 23. Hard Tech Week starts October 26.

Hard Tech Week is 47G’s first, running October 26–30, with live demos, facility showcases and industry events across the state. 47G’s flagship Zero Gravity Summit anchors the week on October 28–29 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

The timing is the point. We’ll come home with fresh conversations, new contacts and notes while they’re still useful, and we’ll be around all week to follow up in person. If a supplier or partner we met in Las Vegas belongs in a conversation at Hard Tech Week, we’ll work to make that happen.

Who’s part of this

This trip is a group effort, and the people behind it deserve a mention.

Performance Driven Marketing. Dave Wade has built PDM in Ogden since 2008 and is also part of Black Star Syndicate. PDM is on the floor with us and is offering a free 30-minute consult to the companies we meet.

The Bennett Group. Elijah Taylor and Jeremy Andra both work with The Bennett Group as well as Black Star Syndicate, and we’re grateful for The Bennett Group’s support behind this trip.

Blue Sky Advisors. Troy Tucker of Blue Sky Advisors is making the trip with us. We’re glad to have him in Las Vegas.

On the floor October 21–23:

• Elijah Taylor, Black Star Syndicate and The Bennett Group
• Jeremy Andra, Black Star Syndicate and The Bennett Group
• Dave Wade, Performance Driven Marketing and Black Star Syndicate
• Troy Tucker, Blue Sky Advisors

How to take advantage

Tell us who you want to meet before October 20.

Be as specific as you can. Give us a company name, a machine you’re evaluating, a process you’re trying to fix, or the kind of buyer you want to get in front of. If you don’t have names, tell us the problem and we’ll look for the people working on it.

47G, Utah’s aerospace, defense, cyber and advanced manufacturing association, is sharing this offer with its members.

What happens after the show

• Notes from the conversations we had on your behalf, including when something wasn’t a fit.
• Warm introductions where there’s a fit on both sides.
• An introduction to UMA. Black Star Syndicate and PDM are partnered with the Utah Manufacturers Association (UMA). We can introduce manufacturers to Johnny Ferry, UMA’s President & CEO.
• A free 30-minute consult from PDM on how your company shows up when buyers search for it, including in AI answers. PDM is a separate company from Black Star Syndicate, and the consult comes from PDM.

Send us your list

Tell us who you want to meet at FABTECH by October 20. Then come find us at Hard Tech Week.

Email team@blackstarsyndicate.com or book time here.

Sources: FABTECH 2026 event details are from FABTECH (fabtechexpo.com). Utah aerospace and defense economic figures, Hard Tech Week, and Zero Gravity Summit details are from 47G (47g.org/hard-tech-week). Figures are as reported by those organizations. Mention of FABTECH, 47G, UMA or any other organization does not imply its endorsement of Black Star Syndicate or Performance Driven Marketing.

Black Star Syndicate is a go-to-market advisory firm and is not a broker-dealer, law firm, or accounting firm.