Networking, meeting new people and making new clients were the hopes of the exhibitors at the third annual Regional Business Expo on Thursday.

“The purpose is to allow chambers to invite their members to this expo,” Colleen Young said. “It’s drawing them all together in one location to gain new clients and customers.”

Young is the program director for Mason City Chamber of Commerce. This is the third year a business expo has been held by area chambers.

“We’ve had a nice turnout this afternoon,” Randy Kehr said.

Kehr is the executive director for the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce. Participating chambers include Albert Lea, Algona, Forest City, Lake Mills, Mason City and Northwood. One Albert Lea business owner is hoping to expand into northern Iowa, so she had a booth at the expo.

“I’m looking for more outlets and more clients in Iowa,” Laurie Sistek said.

Sistek owns Bookkeeping Cents in Albert Lea, where she helps small to mid-size businesses with their bookwork.

“A majority of new businesses fail because they can’t do their bookworking,” Sistek said.

Sistek said if the show helps her to get a few new clients that she would come back in the future. This was her first time attending an expo.

“I like networking,” Sistek said. “To me it’s a benefit, and that’s why I joined the chamber.”

The expo, free and open to the public, was from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Diamond Jo Casino. Another Albert Lea business at the expo was Larson Contracting.

“We’re showing some projects we’ve done,” Milo Lien said.

Lien has worked at Larson Contracting as a sales manager for about five years. Lien said Larson Contracting has a booth at the show so they can meet new clients. It’s hard to tell how much the show helps because it can be up to a year before they put up a building.

“We try to generate leads, but we know it’ll take a while,” Lien said.

There were 44 booths at the show, and a large variety of businesses were present. The Albert Lea Housing and Redevelopment Authority also had a booth at the show.

“We offer rental assistance to low income households,” Marilyn Windhorst said.

Windhorst was hoping to get the word out about their rehabilitation loans, which can help people get loans for improvements on their homes.

The show was hosted by area chambers to help businesses display their services and make connections. The Albert Lea chamber sent out e-mails to its members and advertised the expo on the radio so more members and people from the public would attend and make the show worthwhile.

“It’s a great opportunity to expand their networking outside their community,” Kehr said.