Frank Lhotak got his start as a tradeshow carpenter the year he turned 18. His first job was with Steve Distasio at Preferred Exhibits. Later he made the move to Exhibit Installation Specialists with Bill Joyce and Greg Yersich, where he spent the majority of his time in the I&D field. In 2001 Frank relocated to North Carolina to be with his two young children. Years passed and Frank made the move back to Chicago. He was ready to start setting up booths right away and was sponsored back into Local #10 by Terry Hogan. He was hired by CSI Worldwide and that is where he has worked since.
In his time in the industry Frank has also worked for Freeman, The Expo Group, Design Centrix, The Rilan Group, Chicago I&D, MC Displays, G-3 Inc., McNabb Carpet and Flooring, Andrews-Bartlett, Alternative Trade Shows, It’s Showtime Exhibits, Exhibit Productions, USA Displays, and Spiro.
In 2021 Frank’s wife, Sharon, almost died from diverticulitis. After a nine hour surgery and weeks in the hospital, she was back to being healthy. At the time of his wife’s bout with diverticulitis, Frank was not able to make the required hours for his health benefits and his family was uninsured. Frank and his wife were left with massive medical debt. During his wife’s recovery Frank’s mother, Janice Comiso became terminally ill. Frank and Sharon didn’t hesitate to move Frank’s mother into their home to care for her until her passing. Earlier this year, Frank’s wife Sharon had a heart attack. Sharon was admitted to the hospital and they found a blood clot inside of her heart requiring open heart surgery. After some testing, the doctors also discovered that, along with the blood clot in her heart, she has stage four lung cancer. Sharon is currently being treated for the cancer with chemotherapy, making her unable to get the surgery that she needs for her heart.
