Maricopa business expo allows businesses to connect

Local businesses had a chance to network Thursday at an expo hosted by the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce and the Maricopa Center for Entrepreneurship, a business incubator that supports local start-ups.

Nineteen businesses attended the Business-2-Business Start-Up Expo held at the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club.

Marla Lewis, the chamber's president and CEO, said the event was designed to focus on businesses helping other businesses.

“The expo provides an opportunity for people in the start-up phase of a business to get in and network with and find mentors in existing businesses,” Lewis said earlier this week. “From a business perspective, it’s hard when you start up a business to find the resources to get up to speed as quickly as you can.”

The expo is a forum for those people just starting out in business to get together and build relationships, she said.

 “One of the chamber’s goals at this point moving forward …is to build business educational opportunities,” she said, adding this is one of several such events the chamber has planned.

The event was attended by businesses in the fields that included accounting, banking, insurance, multimedia, office supply, organizational development, promotional service and sign services.

Jim Burgess, owner of marketing business All About Promotions, had a table at the expo.