2025 Matco Tools Expo highlights hands-on training
Around 4,000 people filed into the Opryland Convention Center in Nashville for the 2025 Matco Tools Expo from April 14-16, with over a thousand distributors ready to sit in on training sessions, catch up with friends, and, arguably most importantly, get their eyes and hands on new tools. Matco Tools has been on a bit of a roll — 2025 has seen 1,200 new product launches from the company so far.
“It’s critical to us that our product portfolio is cutting edge,” Matco Tools president Mike Dwyer said.
Attendees voted on their favorite products from the New Products Showcase, placing Matco’s newest iteration of the MSCX Sidekick Ready Tool Cart as the number one new product. The Sidekick Ready Worktable, which features a quick-adjust lift height mechanism, lower storage tray, and compatibility with the Matco Parts Tray, took second. The revamped 4.5” Bent Tube Blow Gun took third and boasted an improved 500,000-cycle lifetime.
Milwaukee Tool, Oakley, and COAST received partnership awards, while the 2024 Supply Chain Excellence Award went to Professional Tool Products. Supplier of the Year awards went to JS Products, Artcraft, and Astro Pneumatic Tools.
Several hundred new distributors got to experience their first expo and take advantage of the multiple training sessions designed to give new dealers the experience they need to find success and veteran dealers the tools they need to keep being successful. The sessions covered everything from better ways to demonstrate Matco’s Maximus diagnostic scan tools to educational sessions with Milwaukee Tool to Matco’s updated business management tools for distributors. This year saw an expanded focus on providing hands-on training related to diagnostic tools after positive feedback from distributors on last year’s sessions.
Matco also held its third Ratchet Repair Contest, challenging distributors to reassemble a ratchet as fast as possible. Arizona distributor Jason Pittman, who won the first contest in 2023, came away with the championship belt after defeating last year’s winner and fellow Arizona distributor Madison Gerhardt in a rematch of 2024’s final faceoff.
While the automotive world as a whole continues to grapple with uncertainty and rapid changes, the show stayed focused on the core factors that spell out the future of the industry: more vehicles, more repairs, and more complexity.
“The fundamentals of this market are strong,” Dwyer said.
Next year’s expo is already set for Washington, D.C. Although the planning is still in the early stages, the event is expected to be bigger, better, and more interactive than ever, bringing more training to the show floor and even more hands-on opportunities for distributors.
