by Courtney Price

If this year’s business expo is any indication, business is growing in Lincoln County.
The Lincolnton-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce holds its eighth annual Business Expo Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the James W. Warren Citizen’s Center in Lincolnton.
“The public will get to see up close the people that exhibit and talk to the business owners on a personal basis about the products they offer,” Chamber President Ken Kindley said. This year the Chamber sold 47 booths – a total sellout.
Jeff Wilkinson, of Jeff’s Auto Sales in Lincolnton, decided to join the expo for the first time, but he took it one step farther. He’s this year’s presenting sponsor.
“We’re just wanting to get a little more involved in the community,” Wilkinson said.
And Wilkinson said the sellout proves things are looking better for the chamber and for the community.
“If I was going to get involved, I wanted to make sure it was a success,” he said.
“We have 47 vendors, and seven are food-related, so there’s going to be lots of good food to eat that day,” said Lisa Wallace, who’s been in charge of organizing the expo.
She said that, in addition to each booth, there will be a blood drive outside, a scavenger hunt, a visit from Conrad the Crawdad, mascot for the Hickory Crawdads baseball team, and door prizes.
For business owners, Kindley said the expo is a great way to promote a business.
“Some of our vendors have said that even if you get just one new customer, it will pay for your booth,” he said. “It’s a great chance to get out and talk to people. Some people would never know that businesses are here if they didn’t go to our expo.”
Kindley said most people don’t know that, while most of the businesses in the chamber are from Lincoln County, there are members from around the surrounding counties and even one member from New York.
The expo starts at 9:30 a.m. and runs until 2:30 p.m. For more information, contact the chamber at 704-735-3096.