ARTICLE
Despite the unpredictable weather, the Santa Cruz county community came alive late Wednesday afternoon. The Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce’s Biz Expo 2018 was a smashing success. This year’s Biz Expo’s theme of Mix It Up was a strategic effort to get folks to mix and mingle outside their usual business partners. You could see the energy growing as the Cocoanut Grove doors opened to a steady flow of people coming from all corners of the central coast. With the display from our participants and nearly 100 businesses and non-profit participants, the buzz in the Cocoanut Grove was fever pitched as companies A through Z Mixed It Up. The highlights were watching the attendees walk and talk with long time business leaders, new organizations and first time participants who were promoting their business, products and services. Here is a big shout out to our sponsors — Bay Federal Credit Union, Plantronics, Kaiser Permanente, Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Santa Cruz City Schools and Santa Cruz County. And to our media sponsors and partners — KAZU, KION, KSCO, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Good Times, Times Publishing Group, Comcast Spotlight and KSBW. The Derby Girls provided a special service skating around the Grove to help attendees navigate the Chamber booth and get those raffle cards filled out to win special prizes from our sponsors. The action packed event was the place to be seen and the networking was extraordinaire. Why all the hubbub about a Business Expo? The Business Expo is an opportunity to explore the economic values of a community where we can see the capital investments, public and private, that form the base: commercial and industrial buildings, streets and schools, and, of course, the storefronts, business signs, farm fields, and construction projects of local enterprises. They all come together for a few hours each spring to share a story, a network opportunity and to learn about each other. But up close it is the people that staff and operate those businesses that are the heart of our economy. It is the networks that these people create and nurture — interrelated and mutually dependent relationships upon which the enterprise system depends for its vitality and productivity — that are the soul of an “economic community.” The Chamber’s 29th year of Business Expos most recently displayed Wednesday at the Cocoanut Grove gives a close-up view of some of these businesses and, especially, a key sampling of the business and community leaders that define Santa Cruz County’s enterprise systems. Exhibitors included local government agencies and community nonprofit organizations. Policy advocacy groups have populated recent business expos, reinforcing the character of the event as an opportunity for developing connectivity, networks, and sustaining a presence within the economic community. The Business Expo is a staff intensive undertaking requiring regular communications over several months with as many as 100 exhibitors. Please give a huge shout out to Jodie Kench, the Chamber’s Membership Relations Director who took the challenge to put on a wonderful Expo. A second shout out to our intern, Amanda Ketchum who worked behind the scenes and strolled around the Cocoanut Grove taking photos of the community; and don’t forget our cheerful Ambassadors and Chamber Board members who took time out of their busy schedule to be a part of the tradition. Once a year the Chamber throws an Expo to reinvigorate the business community. The 2018 Biz Expo was a success because of your participation. We look forward to seeing you around the county.
Despite the unpredictable weather, the Santa Cruz county community came alive late Wednesday afternoon. The Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce’s Biz Expo 2018 was a smashing success.
This year’s Biz Expo’s theme of Mix It Up was a strategic effort to get folks to mix and mingle outside their usual business partners. You could see the energy growing as the Cocoanut Grove doors opened to a steady flow of people coming from all corners of the central coast. With the display from our participants and nearly 100 businesses and non-profit participants, the buzz in the Cocoanut Grove was fever pitched as companies A through Z Mixed It Up.
The highlights were watching the attendees walk and talk with long time business leaders, new organizations and first time participants who were promoting their business, products and services.
Here is a big shout out to our sponsors — Bay Federal Credit Union, Plantronics, Kaiser Permanente, Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Santa Cruz City Schools and Santa Cruz County. And to our media sponsors and partners — KAZU, KION, KSCO, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Good Times, Times Publishing Group, Comcast Spotlight and KSBW.
The Derby Girls provided a special service skating around the Grove to help attendees navigate the Chamber booth and get those raffle cards filled out to win special prizes from our sponsors.
The action packed event was the place to be seen and the networking was extraordinaire.
Why all the hubbub about a Business Expo?
The Business Expo is an opportunity to explore the economic values of a community where we can see the capital investments, public and private, that form the base: commercial and industrial buildings, streets and schools, and, of course, the storefronts, business signs, farm fields, and construction projects of local enterprises. They all come together for a few hours each spring to share a story, a network opportunity and to learn about each other.
But up close it is the people that staff and operate those businesses that are the heart of our economy. It is the networks that these people create and nurture — interrelated and mutually dependent relationships upon which the enterprise system depends for its vitality and productivity — that are the soul of an “economic community.”
The Chamber’s 29th year of Business Expos most recently displayed Wednesday at the Cocoanut Grove gives a close-up view of some of these businesses and, especially, a key sampling of the business and community leaders that define Santa Cruz County’s enterprise systems.
Exhibitors included local government agencies and community nonprofit organizations. Policy advocacy groups have populated recent business expos, reinforcing the character of the event as an opportunity for developing connectivity, networks, and sustaining a presence within the economic community.
The Business Expo is a staff intensive undertaking requiring regular communications over several months with as many as 100 exhibitors. Please give a huge shout out to Jodie Kench, the Chamber’s Membership Relations Director who took the challenge to put on a wonderful Expo. A second shout out to our intern, Amanda Ketchum who worked behind the scenes and strolled around the Cocoanut Grove taking photos of the community; and don’t forget our cheerful Ambassadors and Chamber Board members who took time out of their busy schedule to be a part of the tradition.
Once a year the Chamber throws an Expo to reinvigorate the business community. The 2018 Biz Expo was a success because of your participation. We look forward to seeing you around the county.