Bigger than ever

Business and Brews grows to larger venue

Posted

It's back and bigger than ever — the second annual Business and Brews Business Expo and Beer Tasting at 6 p.m. Aug. 27 in the St. Francis Borgia Catholic Church parking lot. The event is sponsored by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

"We were looking for a larger space to hold the event," Chamber Executive Director Jordan Rishel said. "It will give us more room for more vendors to set up and we are going to have live music this year. It's a fun thing to have the opportunity to listen to live music by The Byron James Gang."

Last year's event was in the parking lot by Washington County Bank. The smaller space meant a limited number of vendors to keep distanced based on COVID-19 restrictions.

Rishel said all the sponsorships are a sold but booths are still being scheduled.

"Last year, we had more than 30 vendors," she said. "There are 300 tickets available so at that point it would be sold out. We have a goodie bag sponsor so when they buy their tickets they will get their mug, goodies, a bottle of hand sanitizer and sanitizing stations are throughout the area."

Rishel said the main focus was businesses wanted an opportunity to present what their business does and sells to people who are actually going to come back and use their services.

"They show off what they do and we decided to do beer tasting for 21 and older because it's those people who would be returning to their businesses," she said.

Rishel said another benefit is job awareness.

"Just about everyone is hiring right now so the great thing about it is talking to people that are there about the jobs you have open," she said. "Even if a few people make that new connection that means it's a successful event.

"We want to encourage the public to check things out," Rishel said. "Maybe there are businesses they didn't know were in Washington County and realize pretty much just about everything you need is here. It's about supporting local."

Rishel said they enjoyed the event last year and are hoping it goes over well again this year.

General admission tickets include entry into the event, a tasting mug and live music.  Tickets can be purchased at the Washington County Chamber of Commerce office. Some will be available on site the day of the event.