Small businesses show off at Las Vegas expo

A former Cirque du Soleil performer who now teaches the next generation of performers was one of the companies to participate in Wednesday’s small business expo hosted by the Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

The expo held Wednesday at World Market Center featured nearly 100 small businesses and 1,100 attendees.

“We have all industries here… It’s really been good for the smallest of businesses to get that exposure,” said Mary Beth Sewald, the CEO of Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

Renato Fernandes, who founded Mestre Trapeze Academy, teaches trapeze to students as young as 2 years old and as old as 76.

“I used to be a Cirque du Soleil performer, but now I coach for the flying trapeze… I thought why not have (an academy) for the next generation right here in the entertainment capital of the world?” he said.

Some of the businesses featured at the expo benefited from the EDGE program, which was designed to help women and minority-owned businesses in Las Vegas that were impacted by COVID-19. The program connects businesses with experts on finance, marketing and sales strategy.

“These are businesses that were in business prior to January 2020, and they suffered some kind of loss. Some of them were declared non-essential, or they’re restaurants that experienced changes in the marketplace.” said Cara Clarke, vice president of communications for the chamber.

One of the businesses involved with EDGE is an Asian fusion food truck called Food Therapy LV.

“A lot of people, with social distancing, weren’t going out to eat, and we shut down for a few months and are slowly working our way back… With the EDGE program, it’s helped me with finances, bookkeeping, mentors and it’s been a good experience,” said Judy Le, owner of Food Therapy LV.

On the other hand, Shantalle Caldwell serves drinks with a side of painting at Canvas and Cocktails, a sit-and-paint business that serves as art therapy for customers.

“Coming from a different state, they helped me understand better the rules and regulations in Nevada because I had no knowledge of where to go or who to talk to,” she said. Caldwell shared that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she had to relocate her business from Dallas to Las Vegas.

Nonprofits are also allowed to participate in the EDGE program. One of them was Global Paint for Charity, which recycles unwanted paint from industries.

“There’s so much paint wasted in the U.S., over 120 million dollars worth of paint wasted,” said Rony Delgrado, founder and president of Global Paint for Charity.

Recycled paint is shipped to countries that don’t have as much access to paints, he said. On a local scale, paint is also shipped to other nonprofits and community artists to do murals.

Contact Annie Vong at avong@reviewjournal.com.