Nassau expo helps businesses reach out

It was working out Tuesday for Maria Morales-Prieto. Her 6-foot booth at Trade Nassau, one of the largest business-to-business expos on Long Island, was crowded with people inquiring about The Hispanic Network, Morales-Prieto's Bronx-based public relations, marketing and consulting services firm.

"I'm an expo advocate," said Morales-Prieto, former director of the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Morales-Prieto's company was one of about 100 at the expo, at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.

Hopes were very much alive among the exhibitors. "This gets you out before the public," said Barbara Wachs, a Plainview dentist and owner of Modern Smile, a tooth-whitening company that opened only last May. The company, she said, is "Me, myself and I," but added that she had sold products at the expo before noon.

Jonathan Levin, president of Cardinal Trade Group, the New York City-based promoter of the one-day expo, said 6-foot booths cost $495 for the day. "People participate to get their sales for the next quarter," Levin said.