Crane Industry Services, LLC (CIS), Carrollton, Ga., announces that Greg Brown has joined the staff as a Crane Inspector, Trainer and Practical Examiner. Brown is a U.S. Navy Veteran. “Greg Brown has impressive skills and experience from the entertainment rigging sector, as well as his military training,” says Debbie Dickinson, CEO of CIS. He has experience in rigging and hydraulics, working with cranes, forklifts, and other equipment used in the construction and entertainment industries.

“There is a great need for equipment inspections in the entertainment industry,” says Brandon Bowling, with United Rentals Sports & Entertainment Division, which rents lifting equipment to studios for rigging cameras and lights to machinery. Cranes are also used for stunt work. He says safety is as crucial to the entertainment industry as it is to the construction sector. Studios require inspections and extensive operator and rigger training.

Brown is an NCCER-certified Instructor, a Mobile Crane Examiner, an Assessment Coordinator, and a Curriculum Performance Evaluator. His background is in concert stage construction, and the similarities to vertical construction lie in the rigging involved, he says. “On the music side, you raise objects, like speakers and lights, and leave them there for the show. Then you bring them down. With cranes, you’re moving materials to where they’re needed. The rigging principles are much the same.”