By Allen Worrell

News Writer

For local entrepreneurs like Tom McChesney, Friday’s Business-to-Business Expo at the Crossroads Institute in Galax more than served its purpose.

More than 100 businesses were on hand to take advantage of the Business-to-Business Expo, a networking event to help business owners meet other entrepreneurs and to learn more about what products are available in the local area. McChesney, who owns the Sears’ Hometown Store and the UPS Store in Galax with his wife Tonya, said the event was beneficial for him in several ways. In the past, McChesney said he’s had to call Christiansburg or Roanoke whenever he was in need of a fire extinguisher. Thanks to the expo, McChesney realized there is a fire extinguisher company in the Twin Counties. Likewise, the expo put McChesney in contact with other business owners that didn’t realize the level of services available at The UPS Store.

“Quite a few people stopped by our booth that had no idea we were a complete business center beside shipping,” he said. “We do all custom printing for things like name-badges, labels, business cards and things like that, so just getting the word out to local businesses to be able to help each other and support each other is very beneficial.”

The Business-to-Business Expo capped off a week-long celebration of National Entrepreneurial Week at the Crossroads Institute. Neal Satterwhite, director of the Blue Ridge Crossroads Economic Development Authority, said the expo is an extension of the “Buy Local” campaign that area high school students unveiled last year. The campaign was designed to make area consumers understand the importance of buying goods and services locally whenever possibly. Satterwhite hopes the Business-to-Business Expo will serve a similar purpose.

“There is a lot commerce that takes place between businesses, and in many cases the business may be trading with somebody out of the area not realizing the resources pretty close by,” Satterwhite said. “The other benefit for this is for the business people to understand what is in their community.”

For example, Satterwhite said after purchasing an item, a customer will frequently ask about another item or service.

“Frequently a customer might say something like, ‘I need shoestrings. Where can I find those?’ (The business owner could then say), ‘Well, there is a nice shoe store in Hillsville,’” Satterwhite said. “Buy Local is a message we need to keep in front of people. It is absolutely essential, especially in this market, that people understand that every sale is important and no sale is insignificant.”

As director of the Twin County Chamber of Commerce, Judy Brannock was elated to see such a large gathering of entrepreneurs and business owners focused on the same efforts.

“It is a real benefit to the community. We’ve got over 100 here and they are exchanging cards and they are handshaking with one another,” Brannock said. “If you meet a person, you remember that person. That is the whole idea of it, so we are real thrilled to death.”