BOARDMAN Many display wares at trade fair

The chamber's annual trade fair featured exhibits by 100 area businesses.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Jim Poma was searching for a way to market the customized laser glass art his company manufactures on McClurg Road in Boardman.
Ralph Zerbonia wanted a venue to introduce his company's wireless broadband solution for business.
Linda Serrano was looking for a way to boost her 7-month-old home-based business, a personal and corporate errand service.
The three entrepreneurs were among 100 local businesses with displays Thursday at the Regional Chamber Business Showcase 2003 at Mr. Anthony's banquet center. The trade fair is designed to let participating companies meet and promote their products and services to hundreds of area business owners and representatives in a single day.
Knows the business
Poma is a veteran of the glass business. He operated Poma Glass in Girard from 1986-98, then sold the wholesale insulated glass and window company to a national firm and signed an agreement not to compete in the window business for eight years.
Lazart, his laser imaging business, is a different kind of glass company. He started the business about a year-and-a-half ago, using lasers to duplicate photographs and other images in glass.
Poma recently sold his biggest order to date to Porsche, the German automaker. The company bought 1,500 glass blocks containing three-dimensional, laser images of its 911 Carrera Cabriolet model, to be sold in its accessory catalog.
Zerbonia, general manager of Cboss Internet in Boardman, said the timing was right for the technology company to launch its Total Business Broadband service at the trade fair. Available for business customers in the Boardman area, the product will be offered to other parts of Mahoning County later this year.\
Zerbonia said the package offers managed firewall and intrusion detection services for security and many other customized services. "This gives companies the opportunity to outsource instead of having an information technology person on staff," he said.
Saw a need
Serrano said she started American Concierge & amp; Errand Service this year after several months spent caring for her elderly mother made her realize the need for such a service.
The business charges $15 an hour, $12 for senior citizens and offers a myriad of services, from grocery shopping and gift shopping to party planning and moving assistance.
Her husband, Dion, is from California where concierge services are common, Serrano said. The couple is confident the business will take off, and the trade fair was a way for her to connect with potential customers.
Tom Humphries, president and chief executive of the chamber, said the trade fair was a two-day event from 1993 until about 1997. Participants complained that two days was too long for them to be away from their business, and they believed a single day would be effective.
The one-day format has worked. The six-hour daytime show attracts as many as 2,000, said Greg Sherlock, vice president of media and communications, and the after-hours mixers attract between 400 and 600 each year.
vinarsky@vindy.com