FARMINGTON HILLS, MI -- General Colin Powell (Ret.) will present the keynote address at the 42nd Annual National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Convention held in conjunction with The Work Truck Show 2006. He will make his speech during the President’s Breakfast and NTEA Annual Meeting on March 2, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

Powell became the 65th secretary of state in January 2001. It was the culmination of a career in public service. He had previously served as a key aide to the secretary of defense and as national security advisor to the late President Ronald Reagan. He spent 35 years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of four-star general and serving as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993. During that time, he oversaw 28 crises, including the Panama intervention of 1989 and Operation Desert Storm. Following the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, Powell assisted President George W. Bush with the war on terrorism. He led the State Department in major campaigns to solve regional and civil conflicts around the globe, including the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, Cyprus, Haiti and Northern Ireland.

The President’s Breakfast and NTEA Annual Meeting, at which Powell will speak, is open to all show attendees by ticket only. Tickets are $45 for NTEA members and $65 for non-members if purchased by Jan. 9, 2006. Prices increase by $10 Jan. 10 and again Feb. 14. A ticket to the meeting is also included in the complete event package (which also covers admission to all three days of the show, all educational conference sessions and the opening reception). The complete event package is $235 for NTEA members and $315 for nonmembers if purchased by Jan. 9. Prices for the package increase by $30 on Jan. 10 and again on Feb. 14.

The Work Truck Show runs March 1-3, 2006, with the convention (including nearly 40 educational sessions) starting Feb. 28. Produced annually by the NTEA, the event brings together vocational truck fleet managers, truck buyers and maintenance personnel from throughout the Class 1-8 market with hundreds of the manufacturers, distributors and upfitters that produce the trucks and equipment so critical to the work they do. In this single location, attendees can check out the latest full-size work trucks and equipment while examining individual vehicle components offered by more than 400 suppliers.

For details and to register, visit ntea.com or call 1-800-441-NTEA (6832).

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