Vendors, visitors mingle at annual business expo in Wareham

Apr 5, 2018

An annual business expo, which took place Wednesday in TownePlace Suites Wareham, had an expanded reach this year as two chambers of commerce joined forces to put a spotlight on area businesses.

Now in its sixth year, the Cranberry Country Chamber/Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber Business Expo attracted 42 vendors and hundreds of visitors for an afternoon of networking and fun. As in past years, the expo featured a DJ, free food and plenty of door prizes.

“This is a social event as well as a networking event,” said Marie Oliva, the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber’s president. “We’re excited to offer a venue for all kinds of people to come and do business with each other.”

Oliva said this year the chamber partnered with the Cranberry Country Chamber to attract more vendors.

This year, Toyota of Dartmouth, which also operates Check Collision, had Vice President of Fixed Operations and Community Relations Tom Menchi representing the company. Wednesday marked the first time that the business attended the expo.

“This is grassroots marketing for us,” said Menchi. “We go where our customers are.”

The dealership has been in business for about 30 years at Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth, said Menchi. A member of three other chambers, he said the company was considering joining the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber.

“We’re doing all we can to get our name out there,” he said.

Real estate company Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, which has a Wareham office, was also represented. Branch manager Christopher D’Anna and sales professional Amy Pierce were on hand. D’Anna touted the company’s reputation, noting it was recently ranked highest in the repeat home seller category by J.D. Power’s.

D’Anne said the Wareham office recently joined the Cape Cod Canal Chamber as a member and was glad to be at the expo.

“We wanted to be part of something bigger and this has allowed us to make new friends and meet a lot of great people,” said D’Anna. “We’ll definitely do it again.”

For more information on the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce, visit www.capecodcanalchamber.org.