Business View Magazine | April 2020

154 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE APRIL 2020 F rench Lick, a small resort town located 50 miles northwest of Louisville, KY in the southern part of Indiana, is perhaps best known for being the hometown of basketball legend Larry Bird. But for the last 13 years, it’s also been the scene of the Buy Indiana Expo, a one-of-a-kind, trade show-style event sponsored by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane (NSWC Crane) that aligns companies with unique opportunities to expand their business through federal government contracts. Co-organized on a rotational basis by the Bedford, Linton-Stockton, and Jasper Chambers of Commerce, the Expo is held annually at the Exhibition Hall of the historic French Lick Resort & Casino. Its claim to fame is that it connects local and international exhibitors with Crane personnel who have the necessary resources and knowledge of government contracting to make lucrative deals with Buy Indiana vendors. “The original thought process behind the Expo was to make sure that Indiana- based companies got first-hand experience and a first-hand chance to work with Crane,” explains Zarod Myers, Membership & Communications Director for the Bedford Chamber of Commerce. “The economic impact of Crane in the region is AT A GLANCE BUY INDIANA EXPO WHAT: A regional trade show WHERE: French Lick, Indiana WEBSITE: www.lintonchamber.org/about-us/buy-indiana-expo BUY INDIANA EXPO Growing business through Navy contract