The Topeka Chamber of Commerce was let into a place that not many people get to see and that restaurants don’t usually like to let people in to: their kitchen. Most restaurants would be appalled if their guests wanted to come and eat in their kitchen and poke around, but Aboud’s Catering let them right in. After waiting over a year on the Chamber’s one to two year waiting list for their Business After Hours event, Aboud’s finally had their chance, Tuesday, February 19.

The third Tuesday of every month the Chamber holds a networking event that businesses sign up to host.

“Members of the Chamber of Commerce get together with different businesses around town, to showcase the different businesses and get to know the other people in the Chamber,” said Joe Myer, kitchen manager at Aboud’s Catering.

Hosts, such as Aboud’s, have the opportunity to show off what they can do, to the members of the Chamber. The Chamber consists of more than 1,700 active members, such as business owners and managers in Topeka, and 1,100 member firms.

“We meet a different place every month, we generally don’t have one in January,” said Ray Remp, chairman of the Chamber Business After Hours committee. “The host provides wine, beer and soft drinks, food and the place to have it.”

If this sounds like a lot for one business to take on, they have the option of teaming up with other companies.

“You might have one that has a nice facility that will host, and then someone that maybe has a catering company that will provide the food, so they host the event together,” said Remp. “That way neither one has the full burden of the expense and the trouble of putting it on.”

Whether it is a lot of work or not, it’s definitely worth it for the businesses to get their names out there. When they sign up for this event they look forward to getting people in their door to try their food, check out their venue and meet their staff.

“It’s good exposure to the public,” said Brad Aboud, owner and chef of Aboud’s Catering. “The more things I can do, like this Chamber event, the more I can keep my name known out there to the public , and the more I can keep the business alive.”

It’s not only good for the business holding the event, it’s also an incentive for Chamber members and for people contemplating whether to join their membership.

“It is a free event for everybody, it’s a fantastic deal for chamber members and it’s one of the benefits of chamber membership is a networking event like this every month,” said Remp.

For more information about the Topeka Chamber of Commerce, check out their website, http://topekachamber.org/. There you can find more information about their events, including the Business After Hours event. For more information about Aboud’s Catering and to check out their catering menu, go to Abouds.com.