According to the people that are supposed to know about these things, the weather is going to be great this weekend. That makes the folks participating in the fourth annual Business to Consumer Expo very happy.

The event kicks off Friday at 5:30pm with a Business After Hours with the Richmond Hill/Bryan County Chamber of Commerce. This is slated to be the time when businesses can come out and network with their business community. Businesses that do not have a booth in this year’s event are invited to attend. There will also be secret judges roaming the event to choose the winner of this year’s Best Booth honor. The winner will receive $1000 ad package from Comcast. Second place is receiving a free expo booth for next year’s event and third place will get a booth discount. There will be various giveaways happening during the event for businesses to participate in. Friday’s event also provides the chance for Expo participants to visit and support other vendors before the big show on Saturday.

And Saturday is shaping up to be a big show. It is all about the consumer on Saturday. The event is open to the public from 10am to 2pm with no entrance fee. With a vendor count toping 65, there will quite a few things you don’t want to miss.

Coastal Electric will have a functioning solar panel on display. Coupled with the forecasted sunny weather, there is a good chance visitors will get to watch a generator powered by solar electricity blow up the Coastal Electric cold air balloon. The trailer has been on display at other locations. It never fails to impress the crowds with the ability to power lights, televisions and other household appliances with converted solar energy. The Outlaw boat will also be on display highlighting the custom wrapping project completed by PocketMedia.

Four local barbeque heavyweights will be duking it out for Best Barbeque, Best Chicken and The People’s Choice awards. While the names of these judges are also top secret, the contenders are not. They are The Smoking Pig, Come Back Bar-B-Que, Busy "B" and The Smokehouse Southern Grill.

Barbeque won’t be the only thing available to Saturday’s visitors. The Business and Consumer Expo is a complete "Show, Tell and Sell" event. Vendors will have a wide variety of products and services on display, information to answer questions and items available for purchase.

Attendees 18 years and older will also be able to register for event grand prizes to include golf packages from Waterford Landing and giveaways from Coastal Communications. Some vendors will also host drawings at the individual booths.

The Business and Consumer Expo continues to grow year after year. Held at the recreation center on Timber Trail, they are working on outgrowing the space. This votes well for the growth of the business community and the support they receive from the public. It is an exciting thing to watch small and big business alike join together to interact with the local area to show off their stuff. It is going to be an exciting event and I am positive all will have a great time. You can find out more information on the web at www.richmondhillexpo.com. I think the project is an important one and I would love to hear what you think.