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Five Chattanooga-area businesses head to Canada to grow international trade

Daniel LeVan, Ivette Rios, Debi Crabtree and Ken Eudy, from left, talk at Camp House.
Daniel LeVan, Ivette Rios, Debi Crabtree and Ken Eudy, from left, talk at Camp House. Daniel LeVan, Ivette Rios, Debi Crabtree and Ken Eudy, from left, talk at Camp House.

By Mitra Malek 4 min read

Village Virtual is an education and technology company that helps school districts and state programs offer online learning.

So when the Chattanooga-based company’s CEO and founder got nudged to go to an international business-to-business forum in Canada late this month, she was surprised.

Five heading to Canada

Five local companies will attend the Centrallia business-to-business forum in Canada, May 25-27. The Chattanooga office of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center is leading the trip. * EES (Energy Efficiency & Sustainability Consulting), Chattanooga * Beaty Fertilizer, Cleveland * Mesa Engineering, Chattanooga * Roadtec, Chattanooga * Village Virtual, Chattanooga

“My first though was, okay, are there going to be people there who want to start online learning programs for students?” Debi Crabtree said.

No, responded Ivette Rios, small-business specialist with the Tennessee Small Business Development Center in Chattanooga. But there might be other opportunities, Crabtree recalled Rios telling her. The SBDC is leading the local trip to Centrallia, as the event is called.