‘Early Bird’ Gets Her Space At EXPO ’03 Vendors Urged To Sign Up For Oct. 14 Event

Clareese Moss, owner of Shortcakes Embroidery, said, “I sent my entry fee in early for EXPO so I’d be sure to get my same booth where all my customers would know where to find me.”

EXPO ‘03 will be held Oct. 14 in the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center, and businesses who want to participate have until Oct. 3 to sign up.

Shortcakes Embroidery of Henderson was one of about 80 businesses and agencies who exhibited at EXPO, the annual trade exposition of Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties, last year. Moss said, “It brings in a lot of business for me. The only other advertising I get is from word-of-mouth.”

Moss embroiders company logos and symbols on shirts, caps, almost anything, and she also does personal orders. “EXPO is also the only chance other businesses have to see what I have,” she said.

Another company that got business on the spot at EXPO ’02 was A.B. Hair Carpet of Norlina. “We thought it was really great that so many people stopped by and talked with us,” said Linda Van Dixon of the flooring company. “We had estimators there for part of the event, and there were several people who signed up to have them go to their houses to measure for estimates,” she said.

EXPO is organized by the Vance-Granville Community College Small Business Center, the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce, the Granville County Chamber of Commerce and, returning this year after several year’s absence, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce.

In fact, the Franklin chamber’s participation this year is one of several new wrinkles in the 2003 EXPO. Hours for the 2003 EXPO will be extended. It will last from 1 to 7 p.m. this year.

In addition, from 12 noon to 1 p.m., there will be an Industrial Relations meeting and lunch held for human resources directors, safety directors, purchasing agents and senior management people in area industries. A speaker will talk to them about labor issues during lunch, and then they will mingle with exhibitors.

While showing products and services to the public has always been a major focus of EXPO, the interaction of business operators with other businesses has always proven to be quite fruitful, said Diane Finch, director of VGCC’s Small Business Center. “This year, we’re including a Business After Hours for the last two hours of EXPO, from 5 to 7 p.m., which will bring even more business operators to the event to see what’s going on around the area,” she said.

That interaction with other businesses was mentioned by Jay Andrews of Fisher Environmental Products of Henderson. The company sells janitorial and chemical supplies, primarily to government agencies, schools, restaurants and a wide supply of businesses.

“Ours is a relatively new company so EXPO gave us the opportunity to see a lot of business people from the area and to get our name out,” Andrews said. “In addition, individuals found out who we are and that we sell to them, too, so it helped our walk-in business.”

Members of all area chambers of commerce should have received registration brochures for EXPO ’03. Organizers urge you to participate and to send your registration forms in. Businesses do not have to be chamber members to exhibit. Forms and information on EXPO ’03 are available from any of the chambers and from the VGCC Small Business Center at (252) 492-2061.