Rick Gunn/Nevada Appeal File Photo Rob Howells, manager for Costco, works the controls for the Robosapien during last year's Northern Nevada Development Authority Business & Tech Expo. This year's expo is set for Thursday at the Nevada Appeal.
Dave Rund, president of Taiyo America, returns to the Northern Nevada Development Authority Business & Tech Expo as one of the 80 vendors because it gives him the opportunity to meet the public.
"We don't have many customers in Nevada, we only have one, so it's not like I'm trying to drum up business," he said. "It's part of our business culture. We want to remain active in the community and educate the community on what type of manufacturers are here."
Taiyo manufactures printed circuit boards at its Carson City plant on Antler Drive. It has 41 employees.
"It's a good place to generate ideas on future growth opportunities," Rund said. "It's really the networking that I look forward to."
Thursday's expo is expected to attract up to 1,400 people, said development authority Executive Director Ronald Weisinger. Last year the expo was divided into two floors at the Nevada Appeal building at 580 Mallory Way. This year both business and technical vendors will be located on the ground floor. Weisinger said vendors prefer this layout.
"This is the third year we've done it and I'm looking forward to it because it's very different from last year," he said. "There is going to be a tremendous amount of food vendors so that people don't have to leave the building for lunch."
Event chairman Dave Archer organized this year's marketing campaign, which included "TV spots that are really professional," Weisinger said. The title sponsor is US Bank.
Keynote speaker John Mitchell, US Bancorp senior economist of the Western region, will speak from 1-2 p.m.
"He's going to be talking about Northern Nevada and what we need to do to continue to grow and prosper," Weisinger said.
He said the expo is a retention effort for the companies and manufacturers and gives them the opportunity to share with one another.
n Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.
If you go
What: Northern Nevada Development Authority Business & Tech Expo
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday
Where: The Nevada Appeal building, 580 Mallory Way
For schedule information visit www.nnda.org or call 883-4413.
Breakout sessions on these topics: Internet marketing; research money for small high-tech and start-up companies; IT budgets; computer security; software.