Chamber expo connects people to business, services

Jan. 24—One need not be a pirate at the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce Business Expo — there's plenty of booty to be had at the 30th annual edition of the event.

"Joplin Expo Marks the Spot; Find your Treasure in Joplin" is the theme of this year's event being put on in the pavilion at the Downstream Casino Resort.

"We have over 110 exhibitors this year, and we are completely sold out," said Erin Slifka, marketing and public information manager for the chamber. The event was open from noon to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for business and chamber visitors.

Unless a forecast winter storm causes cancellation Wednesday, the expo will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is $5; children 5 and younger will be admitted free.

"It is a great time for people to learn about the new businesses that have entered the local market," Slifka said of community day.

Treasure chests with candy, ink pens, rubber duckies, ice scrapers, sunglasses and all kinds of other plunder were free for the taking, no swords or cannon fire needed. Jack Sparrow, or his stand-in, patrolled the decks as visitors loaded bags with the spoils or played games for prizes.

"Every exhibitor has something different and unique going on in their booth, but this is really a great opportunity for members of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce to come and showcase their resources and new service lines and connect with members of the community so they can learn about some of the businesses we have in this area," Slifka said.

One of those businesses, Stokes Education Services and Stokes Robotics of Carl Junction, demonstrated the robots that are available for education, law enforcement and security purposes.

"These robots can have curriculum for schools. If you wanted to, you could put them in classrooms for students to learn about programming and robotics, or they can be programmed to go up and down the halls" for security, said Gavin Philliber, of the business. They also can be used for law enforcement purposes such as patrolling and searching jails, jail cells and other premises.

Mike Wakefield, of Binky Guy at 315 S. Cox Ave., displayed products that include screen printed shirts. The 14-year-old business also can provide embroidered merchandise, including shirts and hats. The expo "has been really good" at connecting him to potential customers, Wakefield said.

TPC (The Payroll Company), based in Springfield, has come to the Joplin Expo for several years to connect with business operators who wish to outsource payroll and human resources services.

"We help companies from as small as one employee to as big as 2,000 or 3,000 employees," company representative Austin Linton said. "One of the things it helps with is the tax process. We take all the taxes and handle those ourselves so that all the risk and all the compliance issues is off your plate and onto ours."

Local hospitals and a number of other health care providers, banks, those who provide spa and beauty services, contractors and home services companies, and even junk removal services, are available at the expo to provide information about how they can help area residents and businesses.

Educational institutions such as Kansas City University also are represented at the show.

"This is always a fun time for us to come out and integrate with the business community and hear about some great things that are happening in the business community," said Haley Reardon, manager of marketing and communications for the KCU-Joplin campus. KCU operates an osteopathic medical school here and is nearing completion of a dental school.

Construction of the dental school next to the medical school at 2901 St. John's Blvd. is about 90% complete. Installation of equipment will be done this spring, and the first class of 80 dental students will start school in July, Reardon said.

Freeman Health System, which co-sponsors the expo with Downstream Casino, is providing staff and information on 16 services offered by the system and its hospitals. Those include an allergy doctor, bariatric surgery services, the hospital auxiliary for people to volunteer, sleep medicine and Health Essentials, a store that provides durable medical equipment to the public, said the hospital's Rikki Smith.

"The Joplin expo is really a place where businesses can come and work with each other but also present themselves to the public," Smith said. "For me, as a businessperson, I get to make connections here and see a lot of people in one place. I might not see this many people at any other time of the year. For the people of the community who come, they may learn about businesses they didn't even know existed."