Santa Fe Chamber presents annual Business Expo at convention center
More than 130 booths — many of them offering interactive elements — will be featured Thursday when the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce presents its 2025 Business Expo at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.
The free event, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the convention center, 201 W. Marcy St., typically attracts more than 1,000 visitors, said Bridget Dixson, the chamber's president and CEO.
'I expect it to be even bigger this year,' Dixson said, citing the addition of two new attractions at the event, which has been presented by the chamber for more than 25 years.
Those new attractions include a section devoted to Feria Mercado vendors, a group of south-side merchants and artists. The event also will offer a family-friendly corridor with children's activities and free child care.
The Santa Fam website — which serves as a resource for fun, free or affordable activities for parents with small children in the city — will be holding a first birthday party for its Coffee & Crying group during the expo. The event also includes a bug show presented by the Santa Fe Bug and Reptile Museum, a concert and a performance by Belisama Irish Dance.
Dixson said the chamber has been encouraging local businesses to be more responsive to the needs and wants of patrons with children for the past couple of years, especially after a recent study found Santa Fe was losing business to surrounding communities that offer more family-friendly entertainment options.
'That's really important,' she said, adding family-friendly options send a message to the community that Santa Fe is committed to recruiting and retaining young families.
The number of booths included in this year's expo is the most since before the COVID-19 pandemic, Dixson said. Booth operators have been encouraged to offer hands-on experiences to visitors in an effort to engage them directly.
The expo used to be an all-day event, she said, but it has been compacted into just three hours in recent years because so many business owners and managers continue to experience staffing issues, even with the pandemic long over.
Along with serving as a significant networking opportunity, Dixson said the expo will offer participating businesses that fill out a vending form the chance to sell their goods or services directly to visitors. It also serves as a chance for employers to reach out to potential new workers, she said.
'This is a great opportunity to bring together entrepreneurs, small business owners and community leaders into one group,' Dixson said.
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