Earlier this month, businesses and entrepreneurs from all over the Village of Cassadaga attended the Small Business Expo held at Valley Outdoors. The event was sponsored in partnership by the Cassadaga Community & Business Alliance and the Small Business Development Center at Jamestown Community College.
The event was attended by vendors in the community as well as prospective business owners and consumers, all of whom gathered for an afternoon at Valley Outdoors, located at 16 South Main Street in Cassadaga. Valley Outdoors also recently played host to the newly established Village Welcome Center.
“Thank you for making our small business pop-up event at Cassadaga Lake so fun and successful.” said Kim Collins, founding member of the Cassadaga Community Business Alliance. “We were very excited to work with the Jamestown Small Business Development Center to bring this great opportunity to our region and our brand new Welcome Center.”
Support available to current and potential business owners through local county, public and private organizations, such as the Small Business Development Center, which provides free small business advisory services to help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. People were encouraged to attend to learn about the service. .
In addition to the Small Business Development Center, the event will feature the Small Business Administration, Pursuit Lending, Southern Tier West, Rain Business Accelerator, Chautauqua County and Chautauqua County IDA, Chautauqua Workforce Development Board, Other organizations were featured, such as Chautauqua Opportunities. The event also featured food from Super Duper Catering and drinks from Taylor & Tonic.
“It's been a very positive event. We've been blessed with great weather, great food and drink, and a shared enthusiasm for supporting businesses.” said Judith Garnkarek, a Cassadaga resident.
Susan Asquith, founding member of the Cassadaga Community and Business Alliance, called the event “It was a great success.” She thanked Courtney Curatolo and her team at the Small Business Development Center for their efforts. Asquith and Curatolo came up with the idea for the event because they serve together on the Chautauqua County Planning Commission.
“A great venue and host, CCBA team members, dedicated business owners, fun food and beverage providers, friends, family and more came together under sunny skies to benefit our community. These are the kinds of activities we should focus on to help our visitors thrive.” Mr. Asquith said.