Ninth incarnation of Trade Brooklyn is the largest ever

April 16, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jonathan Levin of Cardinal Trade Group, who helped to produce Trade Brooklyn, with his father, Neil Levin, said Trade Brooklyn is larger than ever with more than 150 exhibitors and 18 seminars to help small and medium business owners. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese

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More than 150 businesses from Brooklyn and all over New York City got together for the largest-ever Trade Brooklyn show at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday. This year’s show put an emphasis on small business owners, and its theme was “Year of the Entrepreneur.”

“We’re really proud of Trade Brooklyn,” said Jonathan Levin, who produces the trade show. “It’s our ninth show in five years; we just moved to the Marriott last year for a bigger space in a better location. We really focus on meeting the needs of small and medium business owners in Brooklyn.”

Brooklyn Trade kicked off with a networking breakfast before the show. In addition to a floor with more than 150 exhibitions, there were 18 different seminars to help business owners in an array of topics, which included social media, marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). The Brooklyn Bar Association (BBA) even offered Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits.

“It’s really great for the Brooklyn Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service because we get to explain to small business owners why it’s important for them to have a lawyer,” said the BBA’s CLE Director Danielle Levine. “People come to us with questions, and we can refer them to an attorney and we crafted [our CLE] specifically so that it would appeal to lawyers and give non-lawyers valuable information too.”

People came to Brooklyn’s largest trade show for different reasons. Many guests were looking for help in marketing and growing their business while exhibitors were often looking to network.

“There are a lot of business that are looking for some help, some resources, some additional guidance and they are here,” said Edward Barshay, the Business Banking specialist at Astoria Bank’s Park Slope branch. “It’s been a positive environment. A lot of people are here to talk about business and not just, ‘hey, what can you do for me?’”