TROY - A lot of business cards were being exchanged at the first-ever Northern Tier Marcellus Shale Business Expo Saturday in Troy, said one visitor to the event.

State Rep. Tina Pickett, who made the observation, was impressed by the business-to-business expo for the natural gas industry.

"I want to say that I think this event brings home to people in the area or anybody who happens to visit today the significance and the magnitude of this industry in the area, and the amount of business involved," she said. "I particularly enjoyed seeing so many of our local businesses here exhibiting today and talking with me about the amount of revenue and increased business that they've seen in the last couple of years ... Many of them are hiring more people, having more revenue, and being able to better keep their business secured, so I think that's one of the big messages here today."

Held at Alparon Park, the expo was touted by organizers as "an opportunity for local business owners, energy companies, and support service providers to connect and learn about the opportunities that have been created because of the recent interest and activity in the Marcellus Shale play."

Cathy Jenkins, the Alparon Park administrator who served on the planning committee for the expo, estimated that at least 5,000 people attended. She said no tickets were taken, so the exact number of people who turned out isn't known. She said there were about 250 vendors. This included local ones such as Henry Dunn Insurance, Henry Dunn Real Estate, Northern Tier Real Estate, Guthrie Federal Credit Union, Gambal Printing & Design LLC, Bristol Excavating Inc., and a number of others.

Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith, who also served on the planning committee for the expo, was also impressed.

"I think it's a great turnout and a great opportunity for the businesses to come together," he said. "I think for our first time out, we're pretty happy with it, and we look forward to do the same thing next year, and be even more successful."

In addition to those from the local area, there were people from all over the country at the expo, including Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Ohio, Wyoming, Kansas and Maryland, he said. "Everybody that has come here has commented on how beautiful the area is, and we had beautiful weather for this event, so I think it certainly added to their thoughts about our county, and we're very happy with it," Smith said.

"Everything went pretty smooth," he continued. "I think most of the vendors are pretty happy."

Tony Ventello, executive director of the Progress Authority and the chairman of the planning committee for the expo, said he was getting a lot of good feedback from those attending the event.

"People are making contacts, they're networking," he said.

"You can have an immediate business opportunity or it might formulate two, three years after the fact, but by the sheer response that we've gotten, people see the benefit of this, especially these equipment dealers and these different companies that come here - fuel services and vehicle dealers and all kinds of stuff like that - they see the benefit of it," he said. "There was a big demand for this. People wanted to see this happen."

He said members of the general public also showed up out of mere curiosity.

David Morris of Canton was one of the people from the local area attending the expo. He had two bags full of information he picked up at various booths. He thought it made a "huge impact."

Sue Cole of Windham Center also attended. She said the expo was "very informative." Her daughter, Mandy Cole, works for Jeremy's Roustabouts and Backhoe Inc.

Some of the companies exhibiting at the expo were familiar faces in the area, like Chesapeake Energy, which had some displays about the Marcellus Shale.

Josh L. Brown, corporate development associate with Chesapeake, said, "I think it's a great turnout. There's a lot of people here. It's great to get out the information and get the community involved in these events.

"We're taking questions, questions from the public as well as other businesses here. We have informational packets, our fact sheets," he said. "We're going to be here for a long time, and we're looking to be part of the community and get that information out."

He noted that people were interested about how Chesapeake protects groundwater.

"The majority has really been other businesses, though, looking to see how they can do business with us," he said. He said they were interested in where the Marcellus Shale play is going and how the industry is going to develop.

Certified technician Tony Derr with Peifer's Fire Protection Inc. of Pillow, Pa., was another exhibitor. The company serves the fire protection needs of the natural gas industry, he said. He was pleased with the expo.

"We made some contacts with people that really don't have the services up in this area," he said. "People don't realize the services exist. They know they need it, (they) just don't know where to get it. So, it's kind of getting our name out there as far as, 'that's the services we offer.'"

Andy Mitchell, an estimator with another exhibitor, M & M Sheet Metal & Steel Fabricators of Williamsport, said a lot of people from different businesses were talking with his company.

"I had a guy come in who wanted to talk to us about building some tanks, some brine tanks," he said. He added that other people asked if his company could provide them raw steel.

"I think it's nice; it's very busy," he said of the expo. "I think you had a good turnout, and there's a lot of booths." He expected his company to get some business as a result.

Two visitors, Terri and Dennis Kelley of Troy, were taking a look at a water truck that was all shined up. Its hood - red like a fire engine - was popped open.

"It's impressive," Terri Kelley said. "It's a lot cleaner than the ones that drive by my home."

Eric Hrin can be reached at (570) 297-5251; e-mail: reviewtroy@thedailyreview.com.