Virginia Beach | On the chilly evening of December 8, a group of 30 local business owners came together at Family Fun eXperience (FFX) on 16th Street in Virginia Beach to meet, greet, socialize and learn something about what each person’s business venture offered. The opportunity allowed members of the Hampton Roads Barter Association to mingle and discuss various ways to work together to promote their products and services as well as how to leverage a networking group much like the Chamber of Commerce.

The Barter Authority, a 40-year-old Richmond-based business and a platinum sponsor for the Virginia Beach Hotel Association hosted the Holiday soiree and the kind folks at FFX provided a spread of heavy hors d’oeurvres and plenty of tasty punch and eggnog.

Barter Authority president Bill Meacham has more than 40 years of experience helping small business owners conserve cash and grow their businesses via barter. In his book “Smarter Companies Barter,” Meachum provides a detailed road map of how to leverage barter in your business to significantly increase your bottom line. It’s a must read for anyone involved or interested in barter as a business practice. Since the pandemic has forced many small businesses to think outside of the box, using a barter ecosystem not only helps them conserve cash, but to also find new customers, vendors and promotional channels.

As you know, the team here at Blvd. Media is constantly on the lookout for innovative marketing tools for small businesses here in Tidewater.  We encourage our readers to buy local, buy often and put those hard-earned dollars back into the community. If we do this in a consistent and sustained manner we will all benefit.  Cheers and Happy Holidays!

~Berry Brunk, Boulevard President | Publisher

Group photo above (from left to right):