Royal Oak

Expo brings chambers, businesses together

By Jeremy Carroll
C & G Staff Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Jeremy Carroll Wendelin Wilson, an employee of Painting with a Twist, works on a painting for onlookers at the South Oakland Business Expo March 9. Photo by Jeremy Carroll Wendelin Wilson, an employee of Painting with a Twist, works on a painting for onlookers at the South Oakland Business Expo March 9.

Curious onlookers gathered around Wendelin Wilson and the Painting with a Twist booth at the South Oakland Business Expo March 9, while three volunteers mimicked the painter’s strokes.

“We decided to do an actual demonstration where people can do 10-15 minutes of painting and get a snippet of what we’re about,” owner Michelle Lewis said. “I think it’s working out.”

The booth was one of more than 80 on display at the annual event, put on by the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with other chambers in the area at the Royal Oak Farmers Market.

The event, set up with the cooperation of the Royal Oak, Clawson, Birmingham, Berkley, Ferndale and Madison Heights/Hazel Park chambers of commerce, had hundreds of visitors throughout the day.

“There is nothing like us here,” Lewis said about the business, which opened in Ferndale in September. “There is food, and the food is great, but this adds a little spice to the event.”

The South Oakland Business Expo brings together various businesses in the south Oakland County area to show off what they do and connect them with other groups. The event, in its fifth year, allows businesses to network with one another, said Shelly Kemp, executive director of the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce.

“First two years we teamed up with the Ferndale,” she said. “After that we thought, why don’t we just invite the whole gang? The last few years we have really tried to play nice (with other chambers in the area). There’s no reason not to.”

Kemp said no chamber is out to take a business away from another chamber — the idea is simply to expose each other to new markets.

“It’s important knowing that we are all struggling and the cities are struggling; it can’t hurt (if we bring everyone together),” she said.

There were free food samples from Qdoba Mexican Grill and Venetian Club, demonstrations of video production work, and booths featuring various financial business services. Much of the event was geared toward businesses marketing to other businesses.

Lynn Cavanaugh, a landscape designer for Four Seasons Garden Center, said it was the second year the company had been at the South Oakland Business Expo. They were there to connect with other businesses.

“We go around and network with other companies,” she said. “We found a couple of connections last year.”

Andrew Androff, owner of Professional Movers, said it was good to be able to simply be in front of people and answer questions they might have. He was answering questions and attempting to get people to sign up for free estimates on upcoming moves.

“We have three people that have put in for estimates already, and that’s three more than we had before we came here today,” he said, only a couple of hours into the event.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1110.