Morris Media of Monroe — The Monroe Times and The Monroe Shopping News — will join 60 other businesses this weekend at the Stateline Home & Business Expo at the SLICE Arena.

We returned to the expo as a vendor last year after being absent for a stretch. 

We had such a good visit with the community at the expo that returning for 2019 was something we planned to do even before we packed up the 2018 booth.

There are 10 different business categories at the expo including automotive; beer, wine and cheese; communications; health and wellness; home furnishings; home improvement; outdoor equipment; real estate; services; and financial services.

The Monroe Times and Monroe Shopping News are in the “services” category.

Colony Brands is under “home furnishings.” They do so many different things at Colony Brands, it’s easy to forget how big of a reach and product line they have. I always think of them first for their wide array of custom, gourmet, top-notch food products. Being one of the largest direct marketing companies in the nation, Colony Brands and its subsidiaries are involved in offering products in the categories of furniture, home decor, apparel, entertainment products and electronics — according to both Wikipedia and Colony Brands’ website.

Information on vendors like Colony Brands and many more businesses is mainly what the expo is about. 

You can get lists of goods and services from contractors, information on real estate and financial services and planning. There are new vehicles on display.

One of the most popular categories is “beer, wine and cheese.” No big surprise there, right? Vendors in that category include Chalet Cheese Co-op, Hawk’s Mill Winery and Minhas Craft Beer and Winery. 

The expo isn’t just an informative event. It’s a fun event, with games, prizes and an array of branding merchandise for businesses from pencils to bags, clips, magnets, etc.

In addition to samples from vendors, the Avalanche Youth Hockey Club has its food vending booth running during the entire event.

“Home improvement” and “health and wellness” are the biggest categories at the expo and include vendors from the Monroe Farmers Market to Swing and Splash.

The audience for the expo is local. At our booth last year, we had a lot of people stop to look at our photo essay projects regarding local businesses in the 1950s to 1970s. People paged through photos that included rural schools, churches and municipal buildings. A lot of these buildings are either no longer standing, or have had significant remodeling. We will bring more of these historic pages with us this year.

The Expo runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. It’s organized by the Monroe Chamber of Commerce. Monroe Clinic and SSM Health will have supervised child activities at the event.

Heading to the Expo is a fun way for a family or a couple to spend some time. Those of us from the Monroe Times and Monroe Shopping News hope to see you there this weekend.

— Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.