Made In Clovis, now in just its second year, is an event that celebrates creativity. This showcase allows up-and-coming business entrepreneurs to connect to the public their ideas from all sorts of backgrounds including crafters, food artisans, artists, and students just to name a few.
Made In Clovis is an event that takes place at Clovis Fest in Old Town Clovis on September 24th and 25th. This section of Clovis Fest, sponsored by the City of Clovis helps entrepreneurs showcase designs, talents, and new businesses on a very low cost basis. Instead of signing up to become a regular vendor at Clovis Fest, these newcomers to the venture learn the ropes of opening a booth at a festival and get the opportunity to show their product to a live audience.
Tycoons with their side businesses are given the push to take their merchandise, games, or other products to the public with the Made In Clovis event as a backdrop according to Operations Director for the Clovis Chamber of Commerce, Priscilla Montell. In order to create a clientele that is based locally, Made In Clovis becomes an area to start and showcase talents for any type of business venture.
“We wanted to partner with the city and try to work with people who were one day thinking about, ‘How do I get my store, or my shop, or my idea, my creativity, my starting business, from my garage to a brick and mortar’, because ultimately that’s what we would love to see.” Montell mentions that the greatest successes from the Made In Clovis event comes from individuals who end up owning shops and businesses that flourish and succeed.
Creative booths are encouraged and the more a booth can standout, the more spectators it usually caters to. Booths that stood out last year included a card game booth and a vinyl cup booth. These booths stood out for their individuality in not only product, but also in presentation and execution.
One important distinction between booths at Made In Clovis and Clovis Fest is the fact that booths at Made In Clovis are new and non-established. This is identified during the jury process when booths are looked at by the City and the Chamber of Commerce. These groups make sure that spaces are given to applicants that are just starting out in their business ventures.
Children 6-17 years of age are also invited to apply under the Fresno-Clovis Business Fair that is organized by Mykel Suntrapak. The biggest difference between this event and the Made in Clovis event is the age requirements according to Suntrapak. Children can do anything they want including baking, woodwork, or even sewing. “There’s a lot more learning involved in the children’s piece of it, we support them along through the process of building a business.”
All newcomers are invited to apply to the Made In Clovis event, not just Clovis residents. “We would love to celebrate the creativity that is [also] in the Fresno area….We don’t want to exclude any of the surrounding areas in the Central Valley.”
Applications are open and can be found on the Chamber of Commerce’s website. Clovis Fest runs September 24th-September 25th from 8 AM-5 PM and Made In Clovis looks to be open both days during that same time.