Time Growing Short For Vendors to Register for EXPO 2007

EXPO 2007, the annual business exposition for Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties, will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 9, from 1 to 7 p.m. in the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center. Businesses and organizations who want to participate have until Sept. 28 to register.EXPO exhibitors get a booth in the Civic Center in which to display their products or to discuss their services with the approximately 1,000 visitors who tour the exhibition each year. Exhibitors have commented after previous EXPOs that the event is the best advertising they have ever received. They also said it is extremely beneficial to talk to other vendors at EXPO and share information with them and to market their services or products with other businesses. The last two hours of EXPO are designated as a “Business After Hours,” which brings even more business operators who are chamber members in the four counties to the event. The interaction among businesses is cited by many exhibitors as being among the greatest benefits they receive by participating.“Trade shows are more cost effective than other forms of client contact and advertising,” said Diane Finch, director of the Small Business Center at VGCC. She urged businesses to “use this EXPO to get your product and/or service out there.”Oxford-based Granville Health System, which operates five facilities in Granville County, has been participating in EXPO for several years. “We keep coming back because EXPO provides us with broader exposure in the community beyond Granville County,” GHS Community Relations Director Janet Herzberg said. GHS will use its space at EXPO this October to provide information about all of its medical services in general. Herzberg recalled that a previous EXPO was successful in generating inquiries about the organization’s Sleep Medicine Center.EXPO is organized and sponsored by VGCC’s Small Business Center, the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Commerce of Warren County, and Granville County Chamber of Commerce. Members of any of these Chambers get a space in the Civic Center for $225. Non-chamber members may exhibit for $380.Fees include an 8’x 8’ exhibit space, draping, a skirted table with two chairs, signage and two box lunches for vendors. Electrical hook-ups in the booths are an additional $10.EXPO is advertised in all area newspapers and by radio, direct mailings to businesses in the four counties, and chamber newsletters. Chamber mailing lists alone account for more than 2,000 businesses that will receive EXPO announcements. Exhibitors will receive a packet of key tips for marketing their businesses at EXPO.Businesses that have not received a registration form for EXPO 2007 or who may need another copy may contact any of the sponsoring chambers for commerce or call the VGCC Small Business Center at (252) 738-3240.