{"recordId":"st_e38iud9x4h5ftmgz","canonicalUrl":"https://sotwire.com/stories/marks-clearing-grading-equipment-team-conexpo-2026","jsonUrl":"https://sotwire.com/stories/marks-clearing-grading-equipment-team-conexpo-2026/record","slug":"marks-clearing-grading-equipment-team-conexpo-2026","headline":"Marks Clearing & Grading founder takes two equipment staff to CONEXPO in Las Vegas","dek":"The founder of Marks Clearing & Grading went with Justin Smith and Benjamin Blessington. Organizers say the show drew more than 140,000 attendees.","articleBody":"Marks Clearing & Grading says it runs a fleet of 265 pieces of equipment. In March 2026, founder Tyler Marks took two people from the company's equipment division to Las Vegas.\n\nTyler Marks, Justin Smith and Benjamin Blessington went to CONEXPO-CON/AGG, which ran March 3 to 7, 2026, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Organizers reported more than 140,000 attendees and more than 2,000 exhibitors. The company posted about the trip on March 10.\n\nThe three walked the show floor and talked with manufacturers, the post says. They got a firsthand look at the equipment shaping the next generation of job sites.\n\nThe group hoped to bring a few ideas back to the field, the post says.\n\nBy July, one of the three had a new title. The company named Justin Smith vice president of asset management.","category":"other","categoryLabel":"Company news","location":"Wendell, NC","company":{"name":"Marks Clearing & Grading","domain":"marksclearingandgrading.com"},"sample":false,"sampleDisclaimer":null,"publishedAt":"2026-09-21T06:07:18.643Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T03:45:34.823Z","badge":"Client confirmed","trust":{"level":"client_confirmed","doctrine":"Sotwire verifies who at the company stood behind the submission. It does not independently certify every underlying company claim as true.","verifies":"which named company contact confirmed this version to Sotwire","doesNotCertify":"independent truth of every claim","badge":"Client confirmed","verificationMethod":"Named company contact confirmed the record directly to the Sotwire desk. No work-email domain check, and not an independent fact-check.","domainChecked":false},"attestation":{"attested":false},"confirmation":{"confirmed":true,"name":"Erin O'Brien","title":null,"company":"Marks Clearing & Grading","confirmedAt":"2026-09-21T06:07:15.643Z","method":"Named company contact confirmed the record directly to the Sotwire desk. No work-email domain check, and not an independent fact-check.","domainChecked":false},"facts":[{"label":"Event","value":"CONEXPO-CON/AGG, March 3 to 7, 2026"},{"label":"Venue","value":"Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas"},{"label":"Attendance","value":"More than 140,000 attendees and more than 2,000 exhibitors (organizers)"},{"label":"Company attendees","value":"Founder Tyler Marks; Justin Smith and Benjamin Blessington of the equipment division"},{"label":"Manufacturers visited","value":"Not named in the company's post"},{"label":"Fleet","value":"265 pieces of equipment (company post, March 3, 2026)"}],"keyEvents":[{"date":"2026-03-03","label":"The company said in a post that its fleet was 265 pieces of equipment"},{"date":"2026-03-03","label":"CONEXPO-CON/AGG opened at the Las Vegas Convention Center"},{"date":"2026-03-07","label":"CONEXPO-CON/AGG closed"},{"date":"2026-03-10","label":"The company posted about the trip"},{"date":"2026-07","label":"The company named Justin Smith vice president of asset management"}],"sources":[],"source":{"url":"https://marksclearingandgrading.com/2026/03/team-marks-conexpo/","publisher":"Marks Clearing & Grading","publishedAt":"2026-03-10T16:00:00.000Z"},"cover":{"url":"https://sotwire.com/covers/marks-clearing-grading-equipment-team-conexpo-2026.webp","alt":"Marks Clearing & Grading founder takes two equipment staff to CONEXPO in Las Vegas","provenance":"unknown","provenanceLabel":"Unknown origin","credit":null},"images":[{"id":"med_d7nba09x33i6ukvi","url":"https://pub-ec2c7475154f4c22ba3162ee6eef7802.r2.dev/wire/marksclearingandgrading.com/obj_k3df86479x5t1nr2-marksonenvent.jpg","alt":"Photo: Marks Clearing & Grading","caption":"Photo: Marks Clearing & Grading","credit":null,"lead":false,"provenance":"unknown","filename":"marksonenvent.jpg"}],"provenanceMethod":"EXIF, XMP, and filename heuristic. Not C2PA cryptographic proof, and not a judgment that the depicted event is true.","provenanceDisclaimer":"v1 labels are heuristic (EXIF, XMP, filename), not cryptographic C2PA proof. Treat them as disclosure of observed metadata, not a guarantee that the image is genuine or that the depicted event is true.","citation":"Erin O'Brien, Marks Clearing & Grading. \"Marks Clearing & Grading founder takes two equipment staff to CONEXPO in Las Vegas.\" Sotwire, September 21, 2026, https://sotwire.com/stories/marks-clearing-grading-equipment-team-conexpo-2026. Record ID: st_e38iud9x4h5ftmgz. Client confirmed.","sampleLabel":null,"correctionStatus":"No public corrections recorded","integrity":{"algorithm":"sha-256","hex":"6dc694c9918244a946a729fd3b118456d3228f02f44972e985112f04fd1ad4ba","contentDigest":"sha-256=:bcaUyZGCRKlGpyn9OxGEVtMijwL0SXLphREvBP0a1Lo=:","scope":"Canonical JSON record excluding the integrity object"}}