Fort Smith chamber expo draws 70+ exhibitors (Updated)

Officials with the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce are confident a new schedule for the annual business expo will draw greater interest and traffic.

So far, the interest is there, with more than 70 exhibitors participating in the Friday (Oct. 8) event at the Phoenix Expo Trade & Event Center. The event begins at 7:30 a.m. with a breakfast. After what is being billed as a “power breakfast,” the exhibit floor will be open to Chamber members and exhibitor guests only for a preview showcase. The preview ends at 11:30 a.m., and is followed by a luncheon that features former Razorback basketball star Scotty Thurman.

Thurman is best known for sinking a clutch three-point shot late in the 1994 NCAA national championship game against Duke. The shot, made with less than a minute left in the game, put Arkansas on the path to a 76-72 win.

“Scotty will give a candid talk on leadership and his life experiences. The luncheon is open to the public and should draw a large crowd — again, driving traffic to the EXPO floor,” noted Whitney Yoder, vice president of operations at the chamber.

For non-exhibitors, the breakfast and lunch are $15 each, and to attend both is $25.

Updated info: The breakfast will also include time for Fort Smith city director candidates to address the audience. They will each have a set, and short, time to state their case.

Previously, the expo was held in conjunction with the chamber’s annual banquet. The chamber sought to improve the event by focusing on it as a standalone event.

“The new format was created to drive traffic to the EXPO floor and increase the value for our members and exhibitors,” Yoder explained. “We see the morning’s preview showcase as being a lot of business-to-business networking and the afternoon creating the community awareness and exposure for our exhibitors that they may be looking for.”

Following the lunch with Thurman, the expo floor will be open to the public between 1 and 4:30 p.m. For more information, or to make reservations, contact Casey McKinley at [email protected]

Expo exhibitors include:
3B Networks Inc.
Airecore Medical Services
Ameriprise Financial
Arbonne International/Georgianna Meek Yerton
Area Agency On Aging of Western Arkansas Inc.
Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield
Arkansas Tech University – Ozark Campus
Arvest Bank
At Home Care of Arkansas
BancorpSouth
Barron Mortgage
Booneville Vending
Bost, Inc.
El Direct In-Home Senior Care
Carrington Creek Homes
Commercial Communications, Inc.
Cooper Clinic, P. A.
Covington Court Health and Rehabilitation Center
Cox Business
Credit Service Company
Cumulus Broadcasting, Inc.
Dixie Digital Imaging, Inc.
Experian Consumer Direct
First National Bank
Fort Smith Convention Center
GuestHouse International Inn
HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital
Home Instead Senior Care
Kelly Services Inc.
Kirkham Systems Inc.
Liberty Bank
Lovvorn Wholesale Lumber Corporation
McCourt Manufacturing
MedDirect, Inc.
Motel 6
Newroads Telecom
Old Fort Harley Davidson
Phoenix Expo Trade & Event Center
Preferred Office Products, Inc.
Randall Ford Inc.
Rheem Manufacturing Co.
River Valley Solar
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkoma
Servpro of Fort Smith
Shred-It of NW Arkansas
Simmons First National Bank
Smith Automotive Group
Snell Prosthetic & Orthotic Lab
Southwest Times Record
Sparks Health System
Sparks PremierCare LLC
State Farm River Valley Agency Field Office
TEC Staffing Services
Terminix Service
The City Wire
The Paper Clip
Thousand Hills Golf Resort
Training, Resources & Consulting (TRAC)
United Blood Services
University of Arkansas at Fort Smith
Wells Fargo Advisors
Westark Plumbing & Expert Drain Cleaning Services
Window World of The Ozarks LLC
WorkSource Inc.
SPMI a Human Resources Outsourcing Company
Windstream Communications
Ziplocal
Engles Financial Service