By A.J. Kaufman, Managing Editor
A major conference came to Kingsport in early April. Held over two days at the MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center, the eChem Expo 2026 welcomed nearly 1,200 attendees from around the country and included expert-led sessions on operational performance, reliability and workforce development in processing and manufacturing facilities.
Designed mainly for plant leaders, engineering and technical professionals, and operations teams, the program included presentations delivered by industry professionals from companies including Mettler-Toledo, Protego, IndexAR Solutions, Hargrove and Endress+Hauser.
With an agenda featuring eight technical tracks, first-day sessions on April 8 — which the Business Journal observed — focused on energy, capital effectiveness, industrial artificial intelligence and workforce development.
Jeffrey Messaros, deputy general manager at Nuclear Fuel Services, BWX Technologies (BWXT), participated in a morning panel on energy resilience. This came one day after BWXT announced it is taking the next step toward producing highly enriched uranium for the first time next door to its Nuclear Fuel Services facility in Erwin, using centrifuges being developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Messaros says there is a large power demand across the region on both the user and supplier sides. He noted that electricity demands are stressing the grids. He commended Erwin Utilities and BrightRidge for their assistance in distributing power and “putting the groundwork in place for distribution and the growth needed to encompass the whole spectrum.”
Highly enriched uranium has not been produced domestically in the United States for more than 30 years. BWXT said it will begin the application process for a license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a process that will not reach operational stage until 2035.
BWXT said in a press release that over the coming months, it will “work closely with regulators to develop and submit a detailed license application that addresses facility design, safety systems, security programs and environmental requirements.”
The same panel talked at length about nuclear energy and specifically small modular reactors (SMRs).
“The technology is federally proven,” Dan Arczynski, President and CEO of Virginia-based Index AR Solutions, who also appeared on the panel, explained. “It is so safe, so reliable, and it’s so long-term. I’m really ready for these SMRs. It’s just great technology.”
James Merlo, chief executive officer of the North American Generator Forum, believes the United States must “constantly be looking for fuel sources” and “produce all types of power,” noting the country is in a modern arms race with China and Russia.
Merlo referenced the safety of nuclear power by noting the total lack of deaths by nuclear contamination to date, including no deaths caused directly by radiation from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.
“We absolutely have the controls to do this,” Merlo said of SMRs.
Second-day tracks covered environmental health and safety compliance, instrumentation for process reliability, accelerating turnarounds and novel equipment design.
The event also included a solutions marketplace with more than 125 exhibitors displaying technologies, equipment and services designed to support plant performance, reliability and safety. While many companies came from Tennessee, several came from Ohio, Texas and other states.
The 2026 event marks the first eChem Expo since its acquisition by EndeavorB2B from EcoChem Strategies last year.
Conference Director Damon Shackelford told the Business Journal that attendee feedback he received was very positive, and attendees hope to keep the momentum going into the future.
“This year’s conference theme of ‘resilience’ resonated with the attendees from regional resilience, by way of the keynote opener Andy Padgett and TDOT’s response to Hurricane Helene, to our CEO led energy resilience panel, to career resilience through an entire track of Industrial AI meant to prepare our manufacturing community for the future of work,” Shackelford explained. “Of course, it is a manufacturing process conference, so naturally the most well attended seminars dealt with safe and secure operations, equipment process optimization and predictive maintenance.”
