The third annual Brantford Business Trade Show shined a light on local entrepreneurs and industry professionals on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
The event featured around 30 different businesses and organizations from Brantford, the County of Brant and the surrounding area.
Sam Gernhart, event organizer and owner of Clarity Marketing and Design, said one of the things that sets her trade show apart is that it’s open to all types of industries.
“It’s a trade show with a real variety of businesses and non-profits, some of them offer products and some of them offer different services,” she said. “We’ve got everything from finance and marketing to home renovation and cleaning, but we also have a BNI networking group and trade businesses on site too, so there’s a real mix. I always try to keep it as neutral as possible so everyone is welcome and I think that gives people a reason to come back and see what’s here every year.”
From Sweet Bakery to TR&C Masonry, TKL Law, Two Jax Cleaning, WB Problast., Askawayrecipes, The Bold Bureau and more, there were plenty of local entrepreneurs to connect with throughout the day. Exhibitors had the opportunity to share and exchange information throughout the event, and to demonstrate what their services do for the public.
Gernhart went on to say that the event gives other business owners and curious residents a chance to really connect with people in different lines of work
“I describe this as one big networking event, and that’s how I want people to treat it. Anyone who has a table here is a potential client, a customer, a funder or supporter, and every visitor is a potential connection. You never know if that connection or someone they know might need your service or product down the road. So even if there’s a little bit of quiet time, these businesses are getting to network with others who are here.”
Devinder Cheba, Director of Broadway Manufacturing and this year’s event sponsor, said that as a fairly new business in the Brantford-Brant area, the event provided him and his business partner the chance to engage with the community.
“This was honestly a good opportunity for us to be a part of the business community in Brantford,” he said. “We want to be part of it because we want to grow our business, and with the city and with the people. We want to team up with the local businesses and get to know them, to present ourselves so we can work together. We’re always looking for opportunities to talk to people face to face and that’s something we get to do here.”
Stephanie Cuachon, CEO of OnCue Executive Solutions, said that given the event provided an audience with fellow entrepreneurs, it aligned well with the very services she provides.
“We help businesses scale up. So we help them go from being a solopreneur working at their desk and making no money, to being an actual business owner with people working under you as a CEO,” she explained. “We take processes in your brain, put them on paper and standardize that for training by streamlining documents and procedures. The key takeaway here is we help businesses solve problems and we find solutions that work for them.”
Having only been in business for just over six months now, Cuachon said she was enjoying being at her first ever trade show.
“I think this will be a yearly thing for us,” she said. “We’re still really small and so this has been a really good introduction to the world of trade shows. I’ve been to other networking events, and you tend to get the same people coming and going, so I didn’t know if this was going to be any different, but the turnout and the conversations we’ve had have been great so we’re happy to be here.”
Gernhart later said that while starting and establishing a new event is always tough, she’s happy to see that the Brantford Business Trade Show has continued to grow each year.
“It’s nice because we’ve had some businesses who have been a part of this since the beginning, but we still get new ones every year and I think that helps encourage visitors to come back and check it out,” she said. “Would I love to have the exhibitor list in the 50s? Yes, of course, but I’m happy with the amount that we have and knowing it’s growing in small increments. Eventually, we’d love to grow it to where we have that speaking and learning component, but we’re just not there yet. We’re still figuring out the trade show part of it, and getting people out and what location works best, so it’s all trial and error but it’s fun.”
With that steady growth, comes new additions, she said.
“This year we had J&J Sports Photography come on board to do headshots and people have already been taking advantage of that,” she said. “We haven’t had something like this at any of our events before so it’s just one more thing that’s been pulling people.”
“We also had Broadway Manufacturing come on as an event sponsor as well as SMD Finance as a gold sponsor which is very exciting,” continued Gernhart. “Having sponsorships are a big part of being able to grow an event and having those new additions actually allowed me to do a direct mail out to over 4,000 businesses in Brantford this year. Between the new sponsors, the headshot company, and putting this on in town, I’m really happy with how everything’s gone so far. It’s been a good turnout.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
