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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

CHAMBER REPORT – Valley Business Expo Attendance Higher

Approximately 1,000 members of the local business community and area residents turned out for the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce inaugural “Open For Business Expo” on June 13. The event was held in a ballroom at The Odyssey restaurant in Granada Hills. Nearly 60 large and small businesses rented booths at the expo to market their services and to network with other area businesses and potential customers. The expo replaced the chamber’s former Business to Business expo, which was held to help businesses network with each other. “This (Open for Business Expo) is busier than Business to Business,” said chamber chief executive officer Nancy Hoffman Vanyek. “We’re really happy with the turnout and the vendors.” The expo was touted as the Valley’s largest business and community tradeshow and mixer. Vanyek said the chamber decided to replace the Business to Business event with the expo to draw attention to area businesses and highlight the scope of services and products available in the Valley. “We’re bringing exposure to the businesses in the San Fernando Valley,” she said. An important goal of the chamber, she said, is to teach members how to follow the business leads they obtained during the event. Many times, business representatives don’t follow up on business leads and contacts, Vanyek said. In addition to the chamber, the expo was sponsored by Telesis Community Credit Union, BFI Sunshine Canyon Landfill, Paul Davis and Alberta Bellisario Insurance Services, Executive Renaisssance Forums, Wachovia, Los Angeles World Airports, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal, EPG Technologies, Mission Community Hospital, Time Warner Cable, Braemar Country Club and Dave Newman Advertising. Admission to the expo was free of charge, but the chamber accepted monetary and food donations to the Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles, a non-profit organization that helps the needy of all faiths. Vendors with booths at the expo included Banco Popular, Bel-Air Exteriors, Calamigos at The Equestrian Center, CPAyroll Inc., Gazal Quickbooks Consulting, House 2 House Realty, Imagination Works, LA’s Largest Mixer, Luther Burbank Savings, Mike’s Roofing Service Co., Inc., SFV Symphony and Valley Voice Publications. Gaining exposure was exactly the reason Eileen Kessman, office coordinator of American Express Travel in Studio City, set up a booth at the event. The company sells travel insurance, traveler’s checks and foreign currency. Many people weren’t aware that the office relocated from Encino more than two years ago, she said. “We’re here just to say, ‘this is where we’re located,'” she said. To draw attention to their booth, Kessman and two of her coworkers held a prize drawing for travel gift sets every 30 minutes. Many of the vendors, including Kessman, showcased their wares to draw interest to their booths. For her part, Kessman adorned her booth with seashells, sand buckets and flip flops. Natural Connection offered guests mini massages, and several vendors gave away candy to lure guests to their booths. Mark J. Zea, a sales specialist with MobilityWorks in Van Nuys, manned a booth at the expo to educate consumers and other businesses about the products his company sells, but he ended up gaining a lot more than prospective clients. MobilityWorks manufactures minivans for the disabled, manning them with wheelchair lifts and hand controls for paraplegics. A banking administrator in the area stopped by Zea’s booth and expressed interest in taking over the financing aspect of disabled access conversion. This would make the company’s operations run smoother, as its current financier is located Back East, Zea said. Many visitors stopped by his booth and told Zea they weren’t aware vehicles can be modified for the disabled. “There’s a huge demand for this, but a lot of people who are disabled don’t even know this exists,” he said. For her part, Liz Coopersmith of the North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce came to the expo “to scope it out.” Coopersmith is serving as the chairwoman for her chamber’s upcoming business-to-business event. She came to the expo to gain ideas. “This is the first time I’ve been to one,” she said. “I really like the way they put it together.”

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