A Corporate Biography
Helen Brett Enterprises

Helen Brett Enterprises, Inc. is a full service, trade show production and management company. Founded in 1946, Helen Brett’s mission was to produce and promote market driven trade shows and conferences throughout the United States. Her dream was to develop a relationship of trust and honor with her exhibitors; this dream is carried on today by this third generation, family business. The firm’s President, Robert Brett Kolinek, CEM, CMP, is an active member of IAEM, past president of IAEM Service Corporation, and past Education Committee Chairman. Mr. Kolinek is a frequent speaker at IAEM and other professional meetings sharing his in-depth knowledge of the trade show industry.

Helen Brett Enterprises, Inc. currently conducts semi-annual Gift and Jewelry Shows in New Orleans and Memphis, plus the Mid-South Jewelry & Accessories Fair. Often “sold out,” the shows range from 450 to 1,200 booth spaces while attracting 8,000 to as many as 30,000 qualified buyers. Just over 19 years old, The International Jewelry Fair / General Merchandise Show is held twice every year in New Orleans and boasts over 18,000 buyers.

Helen Brett Enterprises, Inc., along with its subsidiaries, fulfills customer needs with industry certified veterans capable of comprehensive meeting and special event planning, market research, marketing strategy development, educational programming, electronic and conventional promotion programs, and media relations. The company’s key staff, tallying over 100 years of direct industry experience, consistently operates with the highest professional integrity and standard of excellence to deliver the best value to its clients.

During the December 17, 2002 Gala Dinner, the Convention Industry Council inducted (posthumously) the company’s founder, Helen Brett, into the CIC Hall of Leaders. According to the CIC, only those leaders who “have contributed substantively to the meeting, convention, and exhibition industry can qualify for nomination.” A bronze plaque bearing her likeness will be permanently housed at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center and the Hall of Leaders at McCormick Place in Chicago. The CIC is a not-for-profit organization composed of 29 leading organizations in the meeting, convention, and exhibition industry.

In our 50th year of business Helen Brett Enterprises, Inc. was named as one of the recipients of the Illinois Family Business of the Year Award for 1995. This prestigious award is given to family businesses, both large and small, that have demonstrated tremendous contributions to both the community and their own employees. Applicants are evaluated on the basis of the positive family/ business linkage, multi-generational family business involvement, contributions to industry and community, and innovative, strategic business practices. The Illinois Family Business Awards are sponsored by Loyola University, Chicago Family Business Center, and Arthur Anderson Center for Family Business. The panel of judges consisted of professionals in various disciplines and owners of family businesses.

Helen Brett’s International Jewelry Fair/ General Merchandise Show was named for the second year in a row one of Tradeshow Week’s 50 Fastest growing trade shows in the United States and Canada. Honorees for the Fastest 50 Award were formally recognized by Tradeshow Week, one of the leading publications in the exhibits and meetings industry during a weekend of events last fall designed to acknowledge the successes of the exhibition industry. Winners were chosen on the basis of growth in net square footage over a three-year period, from 2001 to 2003.

The International Jewelry Fair/ General Merchandise Show grew from 99,000 to 124,700 net square feet and 575 to 700 exhibitors. The trade show, held annually in New Orleans, was launched in 1986 and displays jewelry as well as apparel, gifts, home décor, and cosmetics primarily for buyers and local merchants.

Helen Brett Enterprises, Inc. is headquartered at 5111 Academy Drive, Lisle, Illinois, 60532-2171; Telephone: (630) 241-9865, Fax: (630) 241-9870.