Reinvest in the local community, the Newport County Chamber of Commerce advocated to a sold-out exhibitor crowd and visitors who came by foot, car and trolley to attend the 12th Chamber expo.
The expo is a spring tradition for residents and the businesses that set up booths exhibiting services every year.
“This is a must in our community,” said Luke Harding, of U.G. Nason’s, a heating and cooling company in Middletown, describing the expo.
Harding, a member of the Chamber for several years and an exhibitor, said the March 18 Expo 2008, held at the Hyatt Regency Newport, only reiterates the importance of supporting local businesses.
Harding is a big proponent of local businesses. He and his wife Conni formed Preserve Portsmouth, a group started to keep big-box businesses out of Portsmouth and to promote awareness of smaller businesses in the area.
Just across the isle, a few booths away, was All About Home Care LLC, a Newport-based provider of non-medical companion care. All About Home Care was also the 2007 Newport Chamber of Commerce Business Award winner.
Although the 74-person business currently provides companion care to its 90-plus elderly clients in their own homes, they hope to also provide medical care once the company secures a medical license. The company expects to receive the license in August.
Kathleen Devlin, founder, and Cathleen deLipski, director, have been offering their services to the community for 22 years and showcasing their services at the expo since 2003.
“It’s getting our face out there,” deLipski said. “Numerous times people will pick up the phone and call to say they picked up one of our brochures four years ago and tucked it away because they knew sooner or later there will be a need.”
“It’s a wonderful organization and it really helps the elderly,” said attendee Kathy Cordeiro, who has a family member who receives companion care.
Several of Newport County’s communities were represented by a number of different businesses that ranged from Firehouse Theater in Newport and Newport Federal in Wakefield to Great Place to Learn in Portsmouth and Silveira Kindergarten & Nursery School in Middletown.
John and Roxanne Flanders of John Flanders Consulting, a two-person Internet consulting business, who have been a part of the expo since its debut in 1996 said they devote their time each year to both support the Chamber and to seek out potential business prospects.
The duo enjoys seeing all of the familiar faces each year and having a chance to meet new people.
“It’s a nice, close-knit community,” said John Flanders.
“And we have gotten a lot of business from the Chamber,” added Roxanne Flanders.
Although the expo is not a business-to-business event, the Chamber provides an opportunity before the start of the expo for its exhibitors to network.
“We are a consumer expo,” said Jody Sullivan, deputy director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce. “This is where we exhibit members to the communities.”
Because the Chamber established the expo as an annual tradition, space fills up very quickly, but none of its 1,100 members is ever turned away. When space is tight, members share booths and everyone is happy.
Exhibitors each year are a mix of old friends and new participants, according to Sullivan. This year 20-to-25 percent of exhibitors were new, including Broadview Networks, a provider of voice, data, and Internet services.
Joseph Iannone, a senior account executive with Broadview, said as a new member of the Chamber he wanted to use the expo as an opportunity to brand Broadview, a New York-based company with local offices. “It’s going to take a while but the Chamber is the best way to do that and the best place to start.”
Sullivan called the expo “an extremely affordable evening of advertising … And it is a great opportunity for local residents to support the local community.
“We are all about reinvesting in your local community,” she said. •
