Expo Presented Largest Showcase of Local Businesses & Schools

The 2016 Business & Education Expo took place on Tuesday in Franklin. It featured the largest showcase of Williamson County businesses and schools anywhere.

The highly- anticipated event, presented by Franklin Synergy Bank, took place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Factory at Franklin’s Liberty Hall.

For $5, the general public networked with companies in their own backyard, learned about their services, sampled their products and snagged free swag.

This year’s theme was Explore, Experience, and Exchange to highlight the plethora of interactive exhibits coming

“We could not have asked for a better turn out,” said Charlane Oliver, communications director, Williamson Inc. “You see kids here, you see families here, you see business professionals. This is what we want, we want people out here experiencing the expo and this is exactly what we asked for.”

This year the expo was bigger than the last one, in 2014, as Williamson, Inc. provided an experience for all of Williamson County to explore goods and services from more than 70 local businesses, K-12 public and private schools, colleges and universities.

“The Business & Education Expo happens every other year, and we’re the only organization in this county that puts on a business expo,” said Williamson, Inc. President and CEO Matt Largen. “This year we added the education component because it better reflects the fact that education drives the Williamson County economy.”

Columbia State Community College promoted their new hospitality technical certificate program launching fall of 2016. For a full list of who was there, click here.

The event boasted a nine-hole mobile golf course from Holes to Go, live music, live painting, sculpting and sketching featuring 12 local artists from Ansbach Artisans, an upstairs lounge and bar designed by Blue Nova Designs, a digital video booth courtesy of creative production company, Evolve, and table games from Kings Bowl America.

Snaproll Media also brought aerial drones flying above, along with the Chick-fil- A of south Franklin’s cow mascot. Guests were encouraged to check out Landscape Services Inc.’s booth transformed into a park, offering a foretaste of the countywide Park(ING) Day as part of Mobility Week, Sept. 12-16.

There was a varied sampling of variety of the best restaurants, caterers, breweries and wineries Williamson County has to offer. Serving up delectable bites were: Amerigo Italian Restaurant, Catering & Events by Suzette, Chick-fil- A, Dickey’s, Barbeque Pit, Homestead Manor, Mill Creek Brewing Company, Pollo Tropical, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Southern Jerky Co. and Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe.

“We know our members highly value the opportunity to connect with their peers. The Expo is our way to help make these intentional connections that lead ultimately to spontaneous capitalism,” said Largen.

The expo is co-sponsored by Battle Ground Academy, Blue Nova Designs, Lipscomb University College of Business, Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, Spark: Lipscomb’s Idea Center, Southeast Financial Credit Union, and Vanderbilt Health.

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