Island Happenings gives businesses a showcase

by Karen Keefe
Grand Island Dispatch, June 16, 2006

Angelo Grande, chairman of Island Happenings, is seen with Frank Kovacs, a Grand Island resident and an owner of Shannon Enterprises in North Tonawanda. Kovacs will be staffing a booth at the July 1 Island Happenings on behalf of the Enrollment/Marketing Committee for St. Stephen’s School on Grand Island. (photo by Karen Keefe)

Grand Island’s business community gets its chance to shine – and share the spotlight with young entrepreneurs – in a special combined event on Saturday, July 1 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It’s Island Happenings and KidBiz, and it takes place on Whitehaven Road between Grand Island Boulevard and Baseline Road. The events are sponsored by the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce.

“Island Happenings is a means for Grand Island businesses, organizations and clubs to showcase their capabilities. It’s really directed to the people of Grand Island,” said Island Happenings Chairman Angelo Grande. He and his co-chair, Mike Rossi, are Chamber of Commerce members.

The timing near the Fourth of July weekend is a bonus for businesses, as far-flung former Islanders come home for family get-togethers. “We get a lot of visitors that stop in and see us,” Grande said.

Reaching Out To Customers

Networking among business owners is a natural at Island Happenings, and Island businesses can introduce themselves to prospective customers.

“It’s a great event. People get to know each other; there’s camaraderie; there’s good opportunity for showcasing products and services and for businesses to kind of mix and mingle,” and exchange ideas, Grande said.

The connection with KidBiz is to give the next generation exposure to the business world, he said. “The kids are invited to come in and run their own little business.”

You don’t have to be a member of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce to set up a table at Island Happenings, although there is a reduced cost for members. The fees for members and non-members is nominal and encourages all Island entrepreneurs to get in on the act.

With busy commuter lives and active families, many Islanders do not know the merchants right in their hometown. Grande hopes this event will change all that and build loyalty to the businesses that serve the community between the bridges.

“I have a strong belief that Islanders need to support Island business,” he said. That kind of support builds the tax base and helps increase the quality of life for all Islanders, Grande said.

Focus on St. Stephen’s School

Grande is president and CEO of Technology Camp of America and a consultant with Shannon Enterprises of Western New York, a North Tonawanda company that supplies fine countertops to homes, as well as insulation for industrial and commercial processes and equipment. Shannon is owned by Frank Kovacs, a fellow Islander who just signed up to be in Island Happenings. But it is a school on Grand Island, not his business, that brings Kovacs to the event.

“Recently, St. Stephen’s (School) has given me the opportunity to be a … chair for their Marketing Committee, something that St. Stephen’s never did before.”

Kovacs will staff an Island Happenings booth dedicated to getting the word out about the quality of St. Stephen’s faith-based education. He’ll be joined by other committee members, as well as St. Stephen’s own students, to talk about their education in their own words.

“Over the last four months now, we’ve made a diligent effort to try to improve the exposure of the school, mostly in the Grand Island community,” he said. “As a private school, St. Stephen’s really has relied solely on its roughly 38-year history to maintain enrollment, and it really hasn’t stretched out into the community, and beyond even the Catholic faith to try to market and try to sell its service, which is private education.”

Kovacs believes that outreach such as the Island Happenings can tell the community about St. Stephen’s successes and bring to the school a larger, more broad-based enrollment.

Registration is Still Open

More than two dozen groups have signed up so far, and registration is still open. Participants are advised to bring their own tables. They may also want to set up a tent, since the event goes on, rain or shine.

The Chamber’s Youth Ambassadors also will be conducting a hot dog sale during Island Happenings, and other food vendors will be a part of the event.

To register, call Grande at 773-5282 or contact the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce office at 773-3651. Applications are also available on line at the Chamber Web site, www.gichamber.org.

Those interested in finding out more about KidBiz can call the Chamber office, as well.