Mix, mingle, market: Chamber expo set April 22
Knox County businesses will have a chance to show what they offer during Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce’s Business Expo 2026.
Going into its fourth year, the event will take place from noon to 4 p.m., Wednesday, April 22, in The Venue at Lenoir City, 7690 Creekwood Park Blvd., Lenoir City.
“Join us for an afternoon of networking, connection and discovery as you meet new
service providers, connect with businesses new to the area and learn more about the many unique brands and services in our region,” Chamber president/CEO Julie Blaylock said.
This event, presented by Slamdot and open to the public, is a business-to-business expo, she said.
“So, there will be a lot of business networking going on,” Blaylock added. “Business members of the Chamber attend at no cost as long as they pre-register.
“Anybody else whose not a member of the Chamber, whether they are a business or just a resident who just
wants to shop for new services, they can pre-register and get two tickets for $5,” she said. “On the day of the expo, at the door, anybody who hasn’t pre-registered is $5 each. That includes members, non-members, everybody."
Pre-registration can be done by visiting farragutchamber.org.
“We definitely encourage residents and non-members to attend,” Blaylock said. “That’s why we’ve kept the pre-registration entry fee so low. We want to make it easy for people to attend.”
The first 300 people who arrive will get a swag bag with coupons and samples and other items, and everyone who attends will have an opportunity to walk around and talk to vendors.
“We will have 82 businesses there,” she said. “We just sold out the booths, so we are now on a waiting list for booth openings.
“We will have nine area restaurants, caterers or beverage providers,” Blaylock said. “They will be doing samples. While this is not a ‘taste’ type event, it will have people offering samples of food, and we’ll have those people highlighted so they can be found easily" she said.
And, “we have very strong sponsorship representation,” Blaylock added. In addition to Slamdot, other sponsors include expo sponsor, First Century Bank; business-level sponsors, CertaPro Painters, Lenoir City Utilities Board and Y-12 Credit Union;
community sponsors, Simply Magical Vacations by Amy, Nerds to Go Knoxville, Good Day Garage Doors, Kat’s Lash Lounge & Wax Studio and UT Federal Credit Union; dual media sponsor, farragutpress and WFIV-FM radio; and the 2026 swag bag sponsor
and booth beverage sponsor — providing bottled water — is Graphic Creations.
Blaylock said the expo has evolved every year.
“We have sold out booths every single year,” she said. “We hear, year over year,
from vendors that they get more qualified leads from being part of this expo than many other trade shows that they pay a lot more money to participate in."
“On average, we see around 500 to 600 attendees,” Blaylock said. “We’re hoping that switching up the venue this year will maybe bring in some new and different faces and demographics.
“Since we are on the far west side, we are just over the line of Knox County, hopefully this will make it a lot easier for people in Farragut and far west Knoxville to attend,” she said. “We also changed the hours … we hope this will make it easier for people to stop by on their lunch hour or leave work early to come and get some excellent networking done.”
