The Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and The Repository have announced the date for the next Business to Business EXPO. The event will be held Wednesday, October 26 at the Cultural Center for the Arts, located at 1001 Market Ave N. in downtown Canton.

The B2B EXPO offers small to large businesses an opportunity to showcase their products and services in the large exhibition hall, open during the event from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Attendees will have an opportunity participate educational sessions offered throughout the day and a networking after hours session. Keynote speakers will be featured at the breakfast and lunch event.

The theme, Unbox Your Business, speaks to the focus of the event. “In business today, you really must approach things in a whole new way; we must think outside of the proverbial business box in order to grow and flourish,” explained event Co-Chairman and Repository Publisher Kevin Kampman. “Stark County business is continuing to grow and expand. Our success depends on our ability to work together, however. This event provides a perfect way for businesses to share and network with one another.”

“The Business to Business EXPO is a ‘must attend’ event for area businesses and businesspeople,” said event Co-Chairman and Chamber President/CEO Dennis Saunier. “This is an event that will benefit a CEO or high level leader in an organization, as well as an entry-level employee looking to grow personally and professionally. We are proud to be a presenter of the B2B EXPO and are appreciative of the support we have received from our sponsors.”

Vendor registration will be open at the event website, StarkB2Bexpo.com beginning August 15 or by calling 330-458-2073 any time. Admission for the event will be $2 for attendees. The breakfast, lunch and networking after-hours events will be additional.

The Corporate University at Kent State Stark is serving as the title sponsor of this year’s event, with supporting sponsorships from Huntington Bank and Mercy Medical Center.

CONTACT: Maureen Ater, Director of Marketing
Email: maureen.ater@cantonrep.com
Phone: 330-580-8541
Cell: 330-690-8539

The upcoming Business to Business EXPO, presented by The Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and The Repository, will feature Lt. Governor Mary Taylor as the keynote speaker at the event’s breakfast.

Lt. Governor Taylor will be speaking on the ‘Making Ohio Business Friendly.'

Taylor was sworn in as Ohio’s 65th Lieutenant Governor on January 10, 2011. Governor Kasich named her to lead CSI Ohio – the “Common Sense Initiative” to reform Ohio’s regulatory policies, as well as to serve as the director of the Ohio Department of Insurance.

Taylor was the first certified public accountant to serve as Auditor of State and was called one of the ‘most influential’ members of the Ohio Society of CPA’s.

As a state legislator, Taylor was instrumental in passing Ohio’s 2005 tax reform package that reduced personal income taxes by 21 percent. The measure also eliminated the tangible personal property tax, the corporate franchise tax and the inventory tax imposed on businesses. She was a member of the House Finance, Ways and Means, and Education committees and was recognized by the United Conservatives of Ohio as a “Watchdog of the Treasury.” The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s largest small-business group, also named Taylor a “Guardian of Small Business” for her outstanding voting record on behalf of Ohio’s small-business owners.

Taylor earned a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's degree in taxation from the University of Akron. She began her career in 1990 with Deloitte and Touche and joined the Akron firm of Bober, Markey, Fedorovich & Company in 1994, where she served as director of the firm's tax department and senior manager of the employee benefits practice.

Taylor, 44, is a life-long resident of northeast Ohio where she lives with her husband, Don, and their sons, Michael and Joe.

Tickets for the breakfast will be $18 and reservations can be made at www.StarkB2BExpo.com or by calling 330-458-2073.

Predicting the future and adapting to change…a focus of every business today and the topic spotlighted by Dr. William Draves, business futurist and keynote speaker at the Business to Business EXPO’s luncheon.

The B2B EXPO, held Wednesday, October 26 will feature Draves in a lively and entertaining presentation, Nine Shift: Work and Business in the 21st Century.

Draves will explain the major nine shifts currently taking place in the world today and the implications of each shift for your work and business.  He will explore practical changes needed for business decision makers and emerging leaders to respond to the 21st century. 

Draves is a business futurist and serves as the President of the Learning Resources Network (LERN). Originally headquartered in Kansas, LERN is the largest continuing education association in the world and the leading association in online learning.  His most current book, which he co-authored with Julie Coates,  “Nine Shift: Work, Life and Education in the 21st Century,”  was covered by Advertising Age, Kiplinger Letter, Forbes, The Atlantic, Chicago Tribune and as well as other media.

The noon luncheon will be held in the McKinley Room at the Canton Memorial Civic Center and is made possible through the support of The Corporate University at Kent State University at Stark. Reservations are required for the luncheon. Tickets are available for $25 per person through the event website, StarkB2BExpo.com or calling 330-580-8524.

About Draves
A native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, he holds a Masters Degree in Adult Education from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
           
He has keynoted at more than 200 seminars, workshops and presentations in 40 states, Puerto Rico, six Canadian provinces, and Russia, Japan, Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Business to Business Expo offers a wide variety of events throughout the day on October 26. None will be more fun than the Networking After Hours event from 4 to 6pm, sponsored by Pole Position Marketing and the Canton Charge. The After Hours will include appetizers, drinks and music held on the exhibition floor at the Cultural Center for the Arts.

Networking After Hours admission is $7 and is available for presale purchase or at the door. Ticket information and other show details are available online at www.StarkB2BExpo.com or by calling 330-580-8524.

An exhibition area at this year’s Business to Business Expo will feature 50+regional businesses in the Cultural Center for the Arts. The area is open from 8:30 am to 6 pm, and will include features like a Social Media Café, which offers a state of the art of office setting and technology, for attendees to ‘relax, meet & tweet.’

Four programs from local experts will also be offered in the exhibition area throughout the day:

• 10am Social Media: You are doing it, now what? Panel Discussion: Beth Kaboth (Marketing Coordinator, SiteLogic), Pete Fierle (Digital Media/Communications Manager, Pro Football Hall of Fame), Stoney deGeyter (CEO, Pole Position Marketing)

• 11am Keep Your Content King – hard and fast ideas of keeping your company website’s content relevant Speaker: Sue Grabowski - President, Grabowski & Company

• 2pm The Fab Four: Mixing and Managing Generations in the Workplace Panel Discussion: Willie Shoemaker (Public Program Coordinator, Kent Stark Corporate University), Aimee Belden (Executive Director, yStark!), Patti Bresnahan (Director of Human Resources, Mercy Medical Center)

• 3pm Small Business: Strategic Marketing/Sales Speaker: Todd Locke - President, WRL Advertising