By Logan B. Anderson

MILFORD — The Greater Milford Chamber of Commerce set out to connect some of its members with new customers at Thursday’s annual Community Expo.

The event, held at the Milford Elks Lodge 2401, saw 30 chamber-member businesses from a wide array of industry sectors meet and network with each other and new potential clients.

The expo was sponsored by Bayhealth, Dover Federal Credit Union and the Delaware State News.

“Today is about bringing over 30 chamber members under the same roof and offering an opportunity for the community to come and meet these 30 members,” chamber Executive Director Jo Schmeiser said.

Fortunata’s Bakery, Ms. Schmeiser said, had an experience Thursday night that summed up the reason for the event.

“Their neighbor tonight said, ‘Oh, we know that you are there. We just haven’t been there yet.’ We hope that is happening with other people. Now he will go there and hopefully go see all the goods and services these businesses have to offer,” she said.

Transamerica, an insurance provider based in Dover, which serves Milford and throughout Delmarva, wanted to be a part of Thursday’s event for a chance to connect.

“We are here to do our part and take care of people,” said Bill Marconi, insurance representative.

“Transamerica is an insurance company that protects families against catastrophic situations, and we try to do whatever we can to cover them through our insurance products. The insurance products that we have cover mortgages, cover disabilities, all kinds of things,” he added.

Dover Federal Credit Union wanted to sponsor the event and be an exhibitor as part of its commitment to the greater Milford area.

“We are definitely local. We love being part of these events and the community,” said Fallon McClain, marketing and community impact manager at DFCU. “We connect community to whatever we do.”

Some businesses, like Constance Dredden’s Heavenly Taste Catering, used the expo as a chance to introduce themselves to the community.

Ms. Dredden, who lives in Harrington, started her catering company to share her love of cooking. She hopes that the connections she made on Thursday will help her reach her goal of launching her own food truck or brick-and-mortar restaurant.

“I do all home cooked, from scratch, food. I wanted to be a part of the expo to get my business up because COVID-19 kind of shut everything down,” Ms. Dredden said.

Ms. Dredden’s catering service provides home-cooked menus for family gatherings, weddings, baby showers, business events and small and large birthdays.

New chamber member Nicole Hammond, of CAN Web Management, wanted to be a part of Thursday’s expo to be a bigger part of the community.

“I live in Milford. Our business is here in Milford and I think it’s really important that I get out in the community and spend more time right in my backyard,” Ms. Hammond said.

Ms. Hammond defines herself and her business as online success strategists.

“We help small business owners and startup companies essentially leverage the internet to grow their business,” she said.

For Ms. Schmeiser Thursday’s event was a success. She said she had a waiting list of vendors that wanted to take part in the event.