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Businesses strut stuff

   Tony Dobrowolski, Berkshire Eagle Staff (excerpt from the Berkshire Eagle)

Thursday, October 16 PITTSFIELD — It doesn't hurt to have a name like Sandra Dee when you're starting your own business. Especially if you're a marketing professional who happens to be a solo entrepreneur.

"It's certainly noticeable," said Sandra D. French-Laughran, a virtual image consultant, who calls her business Sandra Dee Inc.

"Sandra Dee is my given name," she said. "One of my sisters is named Janet Leigh. My mom named us all after celebrities."

Sandra Dee Inc. was one of 59 businesses that participated in the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's 11th annual Business-to-Business Showcase yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Sponsored by several county firms, including The Berkshire Eagle, the event gave the representatives of each business a chance to mingle and discuss what they do with their peers.

The firms in attendance included banks, schools, restaurants, and service organizations such as Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. Eleven of the 59 businesses that attended last night's event, including The Eagle, had the word "Berkshire" in their title. Every firm in attendance displayed their wares at tables set up in and around the hotel's second floor ballroom, in a format similar to a state job fair that took place in the same location last month.

"I wouldn't call (this) a job fair, said Berkshire Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Michael Supranowicz, referring to last night's event.

Instead of attracting new employees, the showcase's goal is bring businesses together so that firms can learn what their peers have to offer, he added.

"Not only are you a customer here, you can find another business that you can do business with," Supranowicz said.

According to Supranowicz, the chamber originally started the Business-to-Business Showcase as an alternative to their three-day Spring Expo, an event that attracted outdoor-type firms.

"We thought a fall event would attract different types of businesses," he said. "...This is geared toward businesses where it's easier for them to attend a one day, four or five hour event.

" French-Laughran, whose ex-husband is former Berkshire Eagle Advertising Director Mark French, said she formed her own business two years ago after leaving her previous job as the Berkshire Mall's marketing director. With such as small business, events like last night's gives her a chance to show other firms what she can do.

"First and foremost seeing friendly faces gives me an opportunity to speak one-on-one," she said. "You can find people's needs and wants, and get the word out on what my goal is."