Building business

MOSES LAKE — It’s hardly a secret that Moses Lake is growing, and that’s why this year’s Business Expo on March 4 will have a construction theme. 

“We’ve got a lot of construction going on,” said Debbie Doran-Martinez, director of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the show at the Grant County Fairgrounds. “We’ve got a new hospital underway. There’s a Mexican market going in on Third Avenue … We’ve got a lot of housing (construction) going on. In the industrial sector, we have Sila (Nanotechnologies) doing a buildout; we’ve got Group14 doing a buildout. There’s lots of things happening.” 

The theme is “Building our Economy for a Prosperous Future,” and the expo promises to be a big one, taking up both the 4-H Building and the Commercial Building. There are 85 businesses coming, and last year’s event was attended by more than 700 people, Doran-Martinez said. The premier sponsor, the Moses Lake Elks Club, will have a station set up for the club’s youth ID program, which lets parents register information on their children for law enforcement in case a child ever goes missing or needs to be identified. Bud Clary will be the spotlight sponsor and will have vehicles all along one wall of the 4-H Building. In between there are vendors for everything under the sun, as well as food and beverages. The event coincides with the chamber’s monthly Business After Hours, so pre-registered chamber members will also receive complimentary beverage tokens. The event is free and family-friendly, Doran-Martinez added. 

The Business Expo itself has grown over the years from about 20 booths in the early 1990s to filling two buildings the last three years, and it could grow even more, Doran-Martinez said. 

“We're at capacity, so I can't fit anymore into the space,” she said. “So as soon as I'm turning away enough that I can fill half of another building, then we'll launch into a third building.” 

Besides the wide range of businesses on display, there will be some fun activities, Doran-Martinez said. In keeping with the construction theme, there will be some Jenga games for attendees to play, and a blackout bingo card game. 

“People go around and if they visit 25 of the predetermined vendors that are on the card … they get put into a drawing for a Skylight Calendar photo frame,” she said. “That's kind of a cool, techie item that everybody can use in their household or office.” 

An event like the Business Expo goes a long way toward fostering local commerce, Doran-Martinez said. In an age when it’s easier to go online than across town, money spent at local businesses has a ripple effect. 

“It's critical that we shop local,” she said. “If we want to have stores here, we have to support those entities. And shopping local builds our economy. It builds our quality of life. As we shop local, we pay our local taxes which benefit the municipality that offers products and services for our community … the Amazons aren't sponsoring the Little League baseball team here. They're not donating to the Cancer Foundation. They're not doing those things that local businesses do.” 

Moses Lake Business Expo 

March 4, 4-7 p.m.  

Grant County Fairgrounds 

3953 Airway Drive NE, Moses Lake 

More information: www.moseslake.com 

    Pedro Barreras, safety coordinator for Okanagan Specialty Fruits, gives a packet of apples to Laura Silvers of Avamere at the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Business Expo. More than 80 businesses are expected to have displays at this year’s event.
  

    A boy holds still for face paint at the 2024 Moses Lake Business Expo.