Small business scores big at chamber expo

“I had phenomenal response,” said Larissa Erven, owner of Ms. Errands, a concierge service she started in September.

Erven said she sold four hours of service the next morning and watched traffic to her Web site double.

“I would definitely participate next year,” added exhibitor Karla Chase, who with her husband, John, distributes Gano Excel brand low-caffeine coffee. “I thought the expo was one of the nicest I’ve ever participated in.”

The Chases are working to spread word about the network-marketing coffee product that they say has less acid than traditional coffee and boasts 167 antioxidants per cup.

The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce has organized the expo for 14 years, and the trade show has become the chamber’s leading non-dues revenue generator. This year, gross revenues came in at “close to six figures,” said Chris Tuckness, vice president of community development and special events.

Booth rentals for the one-day show were $465 to $2,825, and door tickets were $7 or free from one of the 195 vendors.

Tuckness said an estimated 5,000 people filed through the Springfield Exposition Center, up from 4,500 last year and 3,700 the year before.

“What we heard more than anything else this year was that there was just a steady flow of traffic,” Tuckness said. “(Exhibitors) were getting slammed at 9 o’clock.”

Robert Cirtin of Robert Cirtin Investigations LLC and Safe at Church LLC and Mary Coyle of CleanAir With Ultraviolet Inc. each said they talked to a lot of interested people at their booths.

Cirtin said he increased his brand recognition, which will pay dividends when someone needs an investigator or security consultant.

Coyle, who installs air-purification systems, said she would call and send postcards to potential customers she met at the expo.

“The traffic to our booth was awesome,” said exhibitor Kurt Theobald, who was there to publicize his new marketing venture, Xponix Inc. “We were busy almost nonstop all day.”

Theobald also owns Emphasis Marketing Corp., a taxi-top advertising company he’s trying to get off the ground after miscommunication with the city caused delays.

With Xponix, Theobald’s first big deal is with Battlefield Mall, where he will install 15 interactive map computer stands in mid-November. Attached to the computer terminal is a 42-inch LCD screen that will loop commercials of paid advertisers.

Xponix also will provide Wi-Fi Internet access throughout the mall.

Battlefield Mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. also has signed Xponix to equip two malls in Wichita, Kan., and is considering using Xponix terminals in other malls, including Independence Center in the Kansas City area, Theobald said.

“Simon is this behemoth of a company,” he added. “They own 380 properties, approximately, internationally. They’re very excited about what we’re doing, too, and they’re wanting to proliferate this.”