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February 20, 2009

Display-packed trade show kicks off today

By Mary Spicer

Meadville Tribune

What do Bethhaven Inn, Jeron Jewelers, Golden Living Center, Tomboy Tools and the Erie Sea Wolves have in common?

For starters, they’re all participating in Meadville’s first-ever Community Trade Show, a 92-vendor extravaganza debuting today at the Downtown Mall. And as participants, they’ve been spending considerable time these days getting ready to give the community an up-close-and-personal look at what’s new and happening.

Sponsored by Meadville-Western Crawford County Chamber of Commerce, the show is free and open to the public.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., area residents are urged to come on down and wander through the display-packed hallways of the mall in downtown Meadville at the intersection of Water and Arch streets.

As for what visitors might expect to see, a casual comment from someone walking through the mall during Friday’s setup summed it up for Charlie Anderson, the chamber’s executive director. “He said, ‘I didn’t even know that some of these businesses were here,’” Anderson recalled with a chuckle. “It’s a showcase for a lot of people.”

Whether it’s purchases or ideas, there’s something for everyone to take home.

Saegertown resident Sue Ashman, for example, will be on hand with both the ever-popular Watkins Products and Mia Bella’s Candles. The candles, she explained, do double duty — working as both gorgeous candles and effective fundraisers.

For its organizers, the day is all about making connections.

“Meadville Community Theater is over there. There’s a garage-door company over here,” Tom Frantz said Friday night as exhibitors moved into their spaces.

“We’ve got a lot of great businesses in Meadville,” he continued. “I’m sure some of them are hurting right now, but they’re not ready to give up. That’s why they’re here.”

A member of the chamber’s board of directors, Frantz played a key role in getting today’s event up and running. In fact, he’s quick to point out that he stole the whole idea from Grove City’s chamber of commerce.

“A friend of mine who is associated with that chamber told me about this show they put on,” he explained. “They have 230 to 250 members there every year — it was their main event.”

Last year, Frantz and Anderson took a field trip to the campus of Grove City College, where the event was staged. “They had so many people there they had to bus them from the parking lots,” Frantz explained.

The Meadville version isn’t quite that big — yet.

For the first time out, however, things have gotten off to a great start, according to Anderson.

“It’s always tough to get something off the ground, so we were hoping for about 50 participants,” he recalled Friday. “Well — we passed 50 about a month ago. We’re in the 90s right now.”

If area businesses had been able to have their way, there would have been even more.

“We had to shut it off,” Anderson said. “We couldn’t find space for any more tables — but we’ve taken calls during the last few days from people wanting to get in for next year.”

As for next year, everyone is learning a lot this time around, Anderson said. And everyone is looking forward to this becoming an annual event.

Frantz is personally hoping to steal yet another idea from his Grove City colleagues. “One thing they did that we didn’t do this year — but I hope we’ll do next year — was that there was a price of admission,” he said. “It was a can of food for the local kitchens.”



Contact Mary Spicer at 724-6370 or by e-mail at mspicer@meadvilletribune.com.

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