Business expo draws locals to fairgrounds

MOSES LAKE — Kevin Farias is quickly soaping up the window sitting in front of him.

It’s the first time the 22-year-old owner of Moses Lake-based Caged Cleaning has had a booth at the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce’s annual business expo, and he’s eager to show off his company and what he can do.

“We have a window cleaning service company,” Farias said. “We service all of Grant County, and that includes Quincy, Ephrata, Royal City, Warden, and Moses Lake. We window cleaning, janitorial services, gutter cleaning, Christmas light installing.”

The Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce staged its annual Business Expo at the Grant County Fairgrounds on Tuesday, with the theme this year of March Madness, taken from the NCAA’s annual tournament to determine which college basketball team is the best in the nation. There were drawings for prizes, a hoop-throwing contest sponsored by the Bud Clary Auto Group in Moses Lake for a 65-inch TV, and scores of businesses from across the area using the opportunity to meet other business people and see what they have to offer.

Farias quickly wiped all the soap off the window with his Squeegee and explained he started his business two years ago because he likes working for himself.

“There’s a certain type of feeling that comes with owning your own business and managing your own time. And the freedom that comes with it. And it’s pretty nice,” he said.

Getting a chance to come together as a group and connect with potential, local clients was another perk of the event, attendees said.

“It’s just a good community event,” said Bud Clary General Manager Jose Zuno. “We try to be involved in anything in our community.”

This year’s expo was such an extravaganza that organizers from the Chamber of Commerce needed to use two buildings — the Commercial Building and the 4-H Building — at the fairgrounds.

“It’s March Madness; it’s the business expo. We’ve got about 75 businesses here,” said business owner and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Debbie Doran-Martinez. “We just want to expose all the wonderful businesses that we have and all the products and services that we can get right here at home.”

For a number of people like Farias and his window-washing business, it was their first time at the business expo.

“We just wanted to make sure everybody knows where we are at, what we do and what we have,” said Pam Tunstall, who with her husband Keith Tunstall are co-owners of Ernie’s Quality Meats and Wine in Moses Lake.

In their booth, the Tunstalls gave away small cups filled with cubes of cheese and small slices of sausage.

“We just wanted to meet other businesses and help support them. They help support us, and we recognize a lot of people that come into our business. So we just want to make sure that we’re doing what we can for the good of Moses Lake.”

Not everyone who had a booth at the expo was a business owner, however. Staff from Samaritan Hospital were there to show off plans for the proposed new hospital, while Moses Lake City Manager Allison Williams talked to the public and the Downtown Moses Lake Association, fresh off its annual Brews and Tunes celebration, also had a booth at the expo.

And a few other kinds of non-profits were there as well.

“We’re here to really network with as many people in the community as we can,” said Aaron Noble, pastor at the Patriot Church on Grape Drive in Moses Lake. “So ultimately it’s about just trying to reach out to the community and get to know people.”

Noble said the Patriot Church hosts Covenant Christian School, which currently has about 160 students. That’s down a bit from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, when around 200 students studied at the school. He also said he was enjoying being at the business expo.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “And we’re seeing a lot of people and I think everybody’s excited to be here and just meet a lot of new people.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.