Business Expo showcases an expanding community

MOSES LAKE — The signs of construction were everywhere at Tuesday’s Business Expo: fluorescent vests, orange shirts, barrier tape and even a traffic cone wandering around the show. 

“I think we were pushing about 800 (attendees),” said Debbie Doran-Martinez, president and CEO of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, which put on the expo. “We had some come really early, and then some that came halfway through … We had a little earlier turnout than what we have had in the past. Even though we start at 4 (p.m.), we don’t usually see the aisles full until about 5:15, but we had people there (this year) at about a quarter to four.” 

Eighty-five businesses had displays, most representing in some way the theme of the show, which was “Building our Economy for a Prosperous Future.” The show occupied both the 4-H Building and the Commercial Building at the Grant County Fairgrounds.  

The traffic cone was Kar Vanerstrom, representing Nest Property Solutions.  

“I ordered this (costume) especially for this event,” Vanerstrom said. “Lots of pictures, lots of people are like, ‘Wow!’” 

The team at LocalTel took the construction theme in a little different direction, with a booth made of giant Legos and bright Lego shirts. 

“Our marketing director was trying to think about, OK, what can we do?” said Vicki Rivers. “Because everyone else is going to have hard hats and those things. He said, ‘Let’s go back to the building blocks, Legos’ and here we are.” 

The LocalTel booth was second prize in the Best Booth contest, judged by five attendees who weren’t affiliated with any of the exhibitors, Doran-Martinez said. First prize went to the newly chartered Moses Lake Elks Lodge No. 2892. 

“They actually came in and framed up some stuff,” Doran-Martinez said. “It was kind of cool, because they’re building a new lodge here (in Moses Lake).” 

The food was catered by Top Gun Concessions, and beverages were supplied by Shenanigenz. Plans are already underway for next year’s expo, Doran-Martinez said. That will be March 3, 2026, and the theme will be “Superheroes.” 

The Elks were the premier sponsor for the Commercial Building, the larger of the two buildings. Their display included swag, children’s activities and information about the Elks’ activities and a child ID service. 

“They take all of our information, such as height, weight, parents, address, et cetera, and they enter it into a computer, put it on a flash drive and give it back to you,” said Cassie Alumbaugh, whose son, Anthony, was being IDed. “And then if there’s any emergencies, you can give that flash drive to the officers.” 

“This is a program started by the Elks in Washington state, and it doesn’t cost the parents anything,” said Elks member Craig Johnson, who had come down from Colville for the event. “We take their fingerprints, some biographical information, and we give them a flash drive. The flash drive has identification cards on it they can print out and additional information about keeping their kids safe. One of the cool things is (instructions for) how to do a home DNA test. If something happens, the kids are abducted or they come up missing, you give this flash drive to the police, and they can download all this information for you.” 

The Elks don’t keep any of the information, he added; it’s erased after being saved to the flash drive. 

Over in the 4-H Building, Bud Clary Auto Group was the premier sponsor. Along with a row of vehicles, the display included a variation of a putting game, where attendees were invited to try to put a golf ball in the hole with a variety of implements including a canoe paddle, a pool cue and a ski pole. 

“If you make it in the hole, you put your business card in a drawing for a free TV or a sound bar,” said Jeremy Vargas, who was manning the game. “Surprisingly, a lot (of people are succeeding). It almost feels rigged, because almost everybody’s making it. We have talented people here in Moses Lake.” 

    Anthony Alumbaugh grins as his mom Cassie Alumbaugh, right, waits for Craig Johnson to finish loading up a flash drive with Anthony’s identifying information. The service was part of the Elks Lodge’s EZ Child ID program, which creates printable ID cards and compiles a child’s information to give to police in the event of an emergency.
  

    Kar Vanerstrom of Nest Property Solutions took the construction theme to the next level at the Business Expo at the Grant County Fairgrounds Tuesday.
  

    Jose Pacheco of Okanagan Specialty Fruits prepares to “putt” a golf ball with a pool cue at Bud Clary Auto Group’s Moses Lake Business Expo booth Tuesday.
  

    Two-year-old Achilles Moreno, right, and 1-year-old Kimberlee Moreno lead their parents Ricco and Krissy Moreno around the Moses Lake Business Expo Tuesday.