Business vendor space sells out at Nixpo

Nearly three weeks before its scheduled appearance, the Nixa Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual business event has filled all its participant booths.

All 108 booths available for businesses at the Nixpo Business and Community Expo have been sold, said Chris Russell, chamber president. The chamber announced the achievement in a Feb. 28 Facebook post. The March 19 event, which has free admission, will be held at Nixa High School.

“If I had 130 booths, I could have probably sold them,” Russell said. “We’re pretty pumped about it.”

He said space that the event used in an auxiliary gym wasn’t available this year due to ongoing construction at the high school. Nixa Public Schools is in the midst of its $15.2 million Aetos Center for the Performing Arts project, set to wrap up next winter, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

“I would love to move it to a bigger venue, but we just don’t have it,” Russell said, noting the event is annually scheduled to coincide with when the school district is on spring break.

While the vendor booths are filled, businesses are asked to contact the chamber to be added to a backup list in case any registered participants are unable to attend, according to the organization’s website.

This year is the 26th edition for Nixpo, which returned last year after two attempts to hold the event in 2020 were scuttled amid the coronavirus pandemic. Chamber officials have previously said the organization earns between $40,000-$50,000 from the annual event. Nixpo attendance generally averages between 3,000-5,000 annually but dipped to 2,000 last year – a total Russell said was an impact of the pandemic as public events were slow to return.