Business: EXPO 2016 Shines through blackout

It took more than a temporary, near-islandwide power outage to putthe brakes on EXPO Jamaica 2016, which surged to a possible record climax on Sunday evening (April 17) at the combined venues of the National Arena and the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston.

The biennial trade show, which was initially staged in 1971,  was thrown, like much of the island, into darkness due to an unknown mishap that hampered energy company JPSCo, There was initial uncertainty, especially as the outage came around the 7:30 pm mark, won the final night, with but a couple of hours to go before the curtains come down on the Caribbean's largest business trade show.

But the lights were back on within an hour and the show returned to its record-breaking pace as patrons continued to flock the over 170 booths in the two venues. In the National Arena, food and beverage purveyors weren't the only ones who had their hands full dealing with high consumer demand. Designer and apparel manufacturers, household chemical purveyors and furniture and appliance stores all did brisk business with respect to inquiries and actual sales.

Not far away, in the Sports Centre, accommodations ad attractions purveyors, under the imprimatur of the Jamaica Tourist Board's "Ultimate Jamaican Stay-cation" campaign, were fielding numerous inquiries from the public in relation to their offerings and rates, whilst the Rural Agricultural Development Agency (RADA) promoted several agri-business initiatives and other service providers made persons aware of the latest innovations in fields from auto insurance to credit reporting.

In between, there was a dedicated Kids' Pavilion offering a range of diversions, from  ball toss and other games to a mini petting Zoo, care of the New Hope Zoo, where the youngsters could  get up close with a number of "critters". Commercial fishing enterprise B& D Trawling, made animals the "stars" of its display, with large tanks holding fresh fish and live lobsters, the latter being held for and by some intrepid members of the audience.

The pull-down, reconciliation and reporting commenced on Monday (April 18), with indications that EXPO Jamaica 2016 will be one for the history books.