Expo Sees A Significant Jump In Attendees and Exhibitors Since Last Year’s Show, Reflecting the City’s Rapidly Growing Small Business Community
The nation’s largest small business trade show is coming back to Chicago for the second time this year, with a special agenda crafted specifically for Illinois’ rapidly evolving small business community.
Small Business Expo, an annual event travelling through ten major cities throughout the United States and catering to the nation’s most thriving small business communities, will be headlined by Chicago’s own Bill Rancic (first winner of NBC’s The Apprentice, media personality and Chicago area luxury real estate developer) who will discuss “Innovation: How To Think Like An Entrepreneur In Corporate America” alongside 100+ other small business vendors, chambers of commerce & valuable small business resources.
Innovation has been at the heart of Chicago’s small business scene for the past few years, especially as philanthropic grants, special programs and groups like Chicago’s Innovation Delivery Team have worked to support small business owners in driving the local economy. Small Business Expo is the largest local event of its kind to bring new services, technologies and ideas to the region’s independent small business leaders.
“Almost 50% of Chicago workers are employed by small businesses,” says Zachary Lezberg, the expo’s founder. “We already see a big change this year. Our exhibitor slots sold out nearly a month in advance, far sooner than we ever expected, and hundreds of business leaders are returning for the second time. It really shows how quickly Chicago is evolving into a small business epicenter.”
Last year’s expo attracted nearly 5,000 visitors and organizers expect at least a 10% increase this year as a growing number of new business owners with operations less than a year old are already signed up to attend. “Not only are we seeing small businesses grow, but we’re seeing new businesses launch at an increasing rate,” says Lezberg.
Bill Walsh, Founder and CEO of Powerteam International will also be headlining, while companies like Microsoft, Eventbrite, Goldman Sachs, Benchmark Email and 99designs will be exhibiting. Attendees can an also take part in free, valuable workshops throughout the day to learn actionable strategies for online/ social media marketing, SEO, managing employee benefit plans, small business financing, strategies for increasing revenue and team productivity, among other educational programs.
Event Details
The Chicago Small Business Expo is a FREE, one day event and will take place on April 9th from 9:30am to 5pm at The Navy Pier (Festival Hall B), 600 E Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60611.
To learn more about Small Business Expo’s full schedule of Chicago events and free online registration, visithttps://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com/chicago/
About Small Business Expo
Hosted in ten of the Nation’s largest small business cities, Small Business Expo brings together thousands of business owners and decision-makers to network, attend business critical workshops, build new business relationships and shop from vendors that provide unique products & services to help grow their business. Startup to a Fortune 500, this is a highly anticipated annual event for small business owners throughout the nation.
Media Contact
Jasmine Bina
714-328-3866