The Specialty Equipment Market Association on Thursday announced that the automotive aftermarket could now register to attend the 2020 SEMA Show.

SEMA is not open to the public, but automotive professionals like collision repairers are permitted to attend. Prospective attendees must prove their ties to the industry with documentation such as a business card and business license.

The opening reinforces SEMA’s assertion that the show will go on, even if the experience might differ from previous years because of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

“We know the SEMA Show this year will be fundamental to helping businesses connect and move forward. We take that role very seriously, but not at the expense of the health and safety of the industry,” SEMA events Vice President Tom Gattuso said in a statement Thursday.  “We’re confident that we will build a suitable environment that gives people certainty that they are not at risk to congregate, yet still allows us to leverage the Show’s position on the calendar to help the industry recover more quickly.”

SEMA said more than 1,800 exhibitors picked booth space during the annual “NFL Draft”-esque selection process last month.

“The SEMA Show is a reflection of the industry it serves, and what we are seeing with these levels of participation in our space selection process is a resilient group of manufactures and service providers that want to meet in the 4th quarter and chart the course for business coming out of 2020 and transitioning into next year,” Gattuso said in an April statement. “We are committed to build the environment that will be the platform for people to connect in the most safe and productive manner possible.”

SEMA said Thursday it was “actively working with leading experts to develop standards and protocols that will create an optimal environment to conduct business while emphasizing the health and well being of those at the event.”

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak plans to allow casinos to reopen Thursday as part of his “Phase Two”; the Gaming Country Control Board permits them to do so at about 50 percent capacity. 

Resort hotels must encourage masks and make them available, offer temperature screening, have a medical professional on-site, and offer an area where guests can be tested for COVID-19.

Live events must be approved by the Nevada Department of Business & Industry, Division of Industrial Relations.

In a document dated April 30, Sisolak said Phase Two would run at least “2-3 weeks to assess and evaluate data and trends throughout phase.”

That “Roadmap to Recovery” says Phase Three will “Ease measures on some public and mass gatherings and non-essential travel with highly modified operations.” Sisolak quoted an American Enterprise Institute Prediction view that the phase will last until “a robust surveillance sentinel system is in place, coupled with widespread point-of-care testing and a robust ability to implement tracing, isolation, and quarantines—and this is supported by the availability of therapeutics that can help mitigate the risk of spread or reduce serious outcomes in those with infections—or alternatively a vaccine has been developed and tested for safety and efficacy.”

Phase Four will feature a “Return to normalcy” but continue “enhanced hygiene and vigilance,” according to Sisolak. This can begin when it is “supported by the availability of therapeutics that can help mitigate the risk of spread or reduce serious outcomes in those with infections—or alternatively a vaccine has been developed and tested for safety and efficacy, we can enter Phase III,” he wrote, quoting AEI.

In related news, the Collision Industry Conference announced Monday it would handle its July conference virtually instead of convening in Pennsylvania as scheduled. Find out more.

More information:

“SEMA Show Attendee Registration Open”

SEMA, May 28, 2020

SEMA registration website

Nevada “Roadmap to Recovery”

Gov. Steve Sisolak, April 30, 2020

Images:

The 2019 SEMA Show is seen. (Provided by SEMA)

The Anest Iwata booth at SEMA 2017 is shown. (John Huetter/Repairer Driven News)