Replay: Watch Interviews with Small Business Award Finalists

Dylan Eckhart and Kyle Pozorski of WAOW Newsline 9 will serve as the emcee for the event.

Each of this year’s finalists will be interviewed in the coming weeks, with the videos available on the Chamber’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The 2025 Small Business of the Year Award recipients were In The Lite Electric in the Business category and Habitat for Humanity of Wausau - Restore in the Charitable Non-Profit category.

Thousands will assemble on Thursday, April 16 at the Central Wisconsin Convention + Expo Center in Rothschild for Business EXPO 2026. The Business EXPO is the largest Chamber trade show in the nation and will feature hundreds of exhibitors. The EXPO features an exhibitor-to-exhibitor time from 9 a.m. to noon, before opening to the public from noon to 5 p.m.  The event will feature a mascot parade at 1 p.m. and the Best In Show Awards will be presented around 3 p.m. Admission to the event is free.

New this year, several food trucks will offer lunch options for exhibitors and attendees in the area south of the Convention + Expo Center’s Ballroom.

The EXPO will be followed by the Fun@EXPO networking event from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at bantr in Rothschild. Fun@EXPO is the region’s largest business networking event of the year, offering a unique opportunity to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones. Food and beverages at the event will be supplied by numerous Chamber member restaurants, caterers, distributors and breweries. The cost for a wristband to enter is $25 at the EXPO or at the door.

The presenting sponsor for the Small Business of the Year Awards and Business EXPO is M3 Insurance. The EXPO is sponsored at the platinum level by The Dirks Group and SDS Painting Company, at the silver level by Health In Motion, Ho-Chunk Gaming – Wittenberg, In The Lite Electric, Jim Kryshak Jewelers, Lakeland Care, Vitality Bar, Weston Memory Care and Yach’s Body & Custom. The print media sponsor is The Business News. The television sponsor is WAOW/WYOW Television Inc. The radio sponsor is Midwest Communications. The printed map sponsor is RotoGraphic Printing Inc and the Best In Show Awards sponsor is New Pulse Marketing.