Event in Van Nuys Keyed to Small Business : This Year’s Expo Will Be No Haphazard Affair

To secure a better turnout than at last year’s San Fernando Valley Business & Industrial Expo, the event’s organizers have found a new location and increased advertising. The 1985 Expo is scheduled to start Friday at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys.

About 70 businesses--including hospitals, financial service companies, a travel agency and a local roofer--will have booths at the Expo, which is designed to expose Valley businesses to each other and to potential customers.

Last year, only half of the expected 5,000 visitors showed up at the Sheraton Premier Hotel in Universal City, according to Barbara Duran, who administers the San Fernando Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Expo. “The hotel was only three weeks old when we held the Expo and a lot of people weren’t even aware that it was there,” Duran said.

Little Advertising in ’84

She said there was little advertising and that the Chamber, which has organized the two Expos held so far, had only one person working on the event last year.

All that, she said, has changed. She said the Chamber has spent twice as much as last year to organize the event, although she would not disclose the budget. She said there is also more money to work with because recruiting has increased the number of chamber members from last year’s 305 to 500.

“We’ve had ads running in virtually every local publication that carries business news and last year the advertising was limited to two newspapers,” Duran said.

There are four staffers working on the Expo this year, she said.

Chamber members have paid $650 to join the expo and non-members have paid $750, according to Duran. Most of the 8-by-10 foot booths were bought by chamber members, she said.

Variety of Seminars

The Expo, which opens at noon Friday, will also include seminars on a variety of business-related topics.

Duran said that, although there is a $3 entrance fee for visitors and a $5 charge for the seminars, the Chamber will be liberal about handing out complimentary tickets.

“Our major objective is to make the Valley a prosperous place to work, live and play, and to acquaint people with what’s here,” she said.

The Expo is focused on the small businessman and local entrepreneur. Most of the large companies in the Valley are not represented, but they are not really the point of the event, Duran said.

“I suppose we could have Rocketdyne,” Duran said, referring of the Canoga Park military contractor. “But who is going to come there and buy a rocket engine?”

Good Response

“It’s done a lot of good for me,” said Marcelo Quiroga, owner of Mike’s Roofing Service of Van Nuys. He said he got 13 roofing jobs out of the Expo last year.

David Bern, president of Dabco Computer Services Inc. in Van Nuys, said he was approached by the chamber but had decided not to take a booth. Dabco makes customized software for jukeboxes, computerized games and other applications.

He said he is more interested in trade shows focused on industries that would use his software. “I chose a particular audience,” he said.

Still, he said he had complimentary tickets and would attend this year’s Valley Expo with an open mind toward participating in the future. The hours for the expo will be Friday from 12 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.