Banners are in place, booths assigned, business bingo cards printed, tents raised and participating companies anticipating the one-day-only Smith Mountain Lake Business EXPO.Slated for Friday, April 25, this year’s fifth-annual event will take place at Downtown Moneta and will be located on a large parcel adjacent to the Mayberry Hills development on Route 122.A myriad of firms -- 178 in all -- are representing Bedford, Franklin, Pittsylvania and other counties. Companies as far away as Tennessee are part of the mix.Free to the public, the one-day EXPO will be open from Noon to 6:30 p.m.Complimentary lunch for all attending will be served when the gates open at Noon until 1:30 p.m.Last year, a record-breaking crowd of more than 3,000 attended.Additionally, the Taste of Smith Mountain Lake – representing cuisine from seven lake-area eating establishments – is a newly-added feature.Held from 5 – 6:30 p.m., tickets for the on-site tastings event are available for $5 in advance or $7 purchased at the “tastings tent” on Friday. (Advance-purchase tickets are available at the SMLVisitorCenter located at BridgewaterPlaza, near the HalesFordBridge on Route 122 in Moneta.)Door prizes – all donated by businesses affiliated with the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce – will be drawn and given away on Friday to EXPO guests.Currently, more than $11,000 in door prizes has been collected.For more information about the Business EXPO, call the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce at 540.721.1203 or log on to www.visitsmithmountainlake.com for full details about the special one-day event.
