Some of the most significant and noteworthy businesses in Northwest Indiana came together for one at night for Expo 2015, a business and consumer expo put together by the Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by the Radisson and Franciscan Alliance.
To see more photos from the event, please click here!
Featuring over 60 businesses, Expo 2015 allowed businesses to present themselves to the public and allow themselves to give detail explanations about the purpose of each business and how each business can best serve the customer and the community.
“This is my second year here, but ever since participating in this event I've noticed great things for both Horizon Bank and our customers,” said Horizon Bank Assistant Vice President Karin J. DeVries. “We've actually had an increase in customers who come to our banks wanting to use our services after this last year's event, its such a benefit to customers to see what we can do and such a benefit to us to directly talk with the customers.”
President and CEO of the Crossroads Regional Chamber Sue Reed strongly supports the idea of having the consumers being able to freely view businesses like at the Expo and having the ability to engage businesses on a more personal level.
“It gives businesses a showcase to share their businesses and products to not only other business but consumers as well,” said Reed. “The amount of people that attend grows every year. We allow networking time with vendors and we also like that this allows businesses to attract new customers who may have previously not have known about some of the businesses and services here. “
While business and vendors of all sizes were invited to display their services at the event, one of the defining features of the expo was seeing businesses of different sizes, financial backgrounds and areas of expertise experience the same level of communication with the consumers visiting the show. It was not entirely uncommon to witness a university, next to a hospital, with a bakery service a few feet away.
“The businesses may be different, but we're all here for the community and we're all here for the consumers, regardless of what kind of business we are,” said Reed.
For the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for NITCO Thomas E. Carroll, the opportunity to not only show off his company, but also hear feedback from customers is what makes this event so unique and so special.
“The best thing that can happen is to reach out to our current customer base and also find a new customer base. We've had a lot of current customers come up to us telling us how much they enjoy our services and how we've had a lot of new customers come up to us, asking about our services available to them as well,” said Carroll.
Carroll also commented on why events like Expo 2015 are essential for the business community.
“It just makes sense,” said Carroll. “It's common sense to do business to business with one another, but also there are over 800 hundred members of the chamber here. These are top shelf businesses and good at what they do. This is a microcosm of the whole of Indiana and a reminder that Indiana is a business oriented state.”