Event will spotlight business offerings

BY JULIE BENAMATI
The Tribune-Democrat

May 06, 2008 01:56 am

— NORTHERN CAMBRIA – Local businesses will help themselves – and help residents – as they showcase their trades at a member-to-member expo here Thursday.
About 35 businesses that are part of the Northern Cambria Area Business Alliance hope to gain visibility and valuable networking opportunities at Contres-Greer Social Hall from 4 to 6 p.m.
The event takes the place of the alliance’s annual Economic and Career Expo, which typically attracted hundreds of job-seekers.
Barbara Kirby, manager at First National Bank of Pennsylvania and one of alliance founders, said splitting the event this year will allow all NCABA members to participate, even if they are not hiring at present.
A separate job fair is planned for June, Kirby said.
“This will give members of our organization a chance to contact new customers or get reacquainted with them,” Kirby said. “People can stop in to see what their local businesses have to offer, and register for door prizes.”
The alliance has grown by leaps and bounds since the organization became official in 2005; its membership of more than 100 is proof of its success.
Members includes businesses from Cambria County and parts of Blair, Indiana and Clearfield counties that are dedicated to the socio-economic growth of the area.
“When we first started out, we wanted to get a group of 25,” Kirby said.
And with four times that goal, the group has been able to do more than just support each other.
They also have become more involved with the community in ways other than promoting themselves.
In recent years, the alliance has hosted “Meet the Candidates” nights when local elections were at stake, and provided opportunities for the public to learn about the county’s new wireless network.
And every year, the alliance provides a $500 college scholarship award to a deserving student.
Kirby says members are dedicated to NCABA’s mission statement, which says the businesses “represent an inter-municipal partnership ... committed to the economic and social welfare of the communities” they represent.
“That’s why we’re so involved in the community,” Kirby said.