Local businesses put in the spotlight

Companies use trade shows to make connections.

For Mary Helen Daniels, senior staffing specialist with Manpower, contacts made during the 21 st Annual Spotlight on Business will pay benefits as time goes on.

Manpower is in the job placement business. “Basically, what we do is match up skills that the person has with the type of positions that are coming in from companies,” Daniels said.

She said Manpower deals with a lot of the companies that had booths at the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce’s trade show on Tuesday. Being at the event provides exposure for Manpower’s products and services to them and to other potential customers.

Manpower provides permanent, temporary and contract recruitment, employee assessment and selection, training, outplacement, outsourcing and consulting.

As the economy shows signs of improvement, businesses can call Manpower to help fill positions. That’s where the connections come into play.

“That way they know that we’re here when they do pick up, that they can call us for any type of employment needs that they might have,” she said.

Contacts lead to new business, but making a personal connection outside of a trade show can be difficult.

“Today, it’s so hard to talk to people one on one,” said Melia McKean, director of communications with the chamber.

She said people call a store and are often put through a message system.

“Here, you can meet the person one on one,” McKean said. “They can answer any questions that you might have, or direct you where to find the information that you need.”

The event, held at the Dothan Civic Center and sponsored by Knology, allowed exhibitors to build a rapport and network with potential customers. Seventy-eight booths were decorated in this year’s theme “Business Around the World.”

People paid $3 to tour the booths and sample food and other items being given away.

Nantze Springs Inc., a local family-owned water company serving the tri-state area, was giving product samples. When asked about the benefits of having a booth at the trade show, route manager Mark Wright said, “new business, that’s our goal.”

Wright said the company has three trucks in Dothan that go as far north as Montgomery, as far south as Panama City and as far west as Andalusia. Another truck in Arlington, where the company has its bottling facility, covers southwest Georgia. The five-gallon containers used in water coolers are the majority of its business.

Lisa Hales, vice president of marketing for Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union, said individuals and businesses come up and talk to people at her booth about membership and the services the credit union offers.

“We get the opportunity to visit with a lot of our members and a lot of the business community in a small period of time when we come to these Chamber events,” Hales said. Employees were handing out brochures on the credit union’s services, rate sheets and a copy of the newsletter.

For Wiregrass Habitat for Humanity, the event provided the opportunity to make contacts with potential volunteers and donors.

“We want everybody to know what Wiregrass Habitat is,” said Amy Schutz, executive director. “We want them to know the good that we do with our communities. We want to build relationships with our communities so that we get more volunteers, and we get more donors and we build more houses.”

The annual event wasn’t just for exhibitors trying to sell a product or service. Some, like Harvest Church, were offering something for free.

“We believe that introducing Christianity to the community benefits every segment of the community,” said Jeff Burnett, youth pastor. “We believe it will create more responsible citizens, that it creates more integrity, more love for one another’s neighbors.”

Burnett said the church has added members to its congregation over the years just by being at the event. He said the effect of spreading its message is tremendous.

“When Christ gets ahold of your life, it changes every aspect of your life,” he said. “Christlike employees benefit the employers, Christlike employers benefit the entire community.”