Christopher Blackburn is no stranger to hard times. While his name may not be familiar, Pantuso’s Italian Ristorante is anything but forgettable. At least that’s the message he was attempting to get out last Wednesday during the Business On The Quad event on campus. Put on by the student-run Entrepreneurship Club (E-Club), the fair hosted over 40 different local businesses, vendors and entrepreneurs like Blackburn.

“I started off with nothing and I’ve been buying and selling restaurants for 16 years,” Blackburn said while handing a free Pantuso’s t-shirt to a passerby. “So I consider myself a little bit of an entrepreneur.”

The seasoned restaurant owner explained that Pantuso’s is not only the oldest restaurant in Grand Junction, but is in fact the oldest Italian restaurant between L.A. and Denver. Despite this resume, business still isn’t what it could be.

“I’m hoping that [the E-club fair] will just get our name out there a little more,” Blackburn said.

CMU senior Chandler Burgon, president of the Entrepreneurship Club, was very excited about this year’s turnout.

“There are a lot of true entrepreneurs here and some are really interesting,” Burgon said. “They want to market to students but don’t know how to do it. So this was a good opportunity for them.”

From the homemade longboard booth to the various school clubs, there was something for everybody. But for the E-Club President, the fair was a little more than just local businesses getting a helping hand.

“It helps get E-club out there and let people know that we’re not just about starting your own business,” Burgon said. “We’re all about being creative, finding new solutions and ideas for things and just having community involvement. It’s not what you know but who you know.”

Lasting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the meet and greet, booth-style fair gave students the opportunity not only to make those connections in the local business scene, but also to have some fun too. Across the sidewalk from the Pantuso’s booth sat David and Nealy Reilly, dance teachers. Striking out on their own, the couple moved west from Missouri and ended up in Grand Junction, opening their own dance studio.

“Business has been great so far, pretty steady,” Reilly said. “We’re just trying to get the word out about ourselves and that’s why we’re here. We’re located very close, right down on Main St. Hopefully we’ll get some more young people into the studio, or at least to realize they’ve got the option to learn new dances.”

Not only were businesses featured last Wednesday, but over 20 CMU student-run clubs had tables of their own, including the business club, PBL (Phi Beta Lambda), Stay Positive (whose famous signs can be found all around the valley), and many other campus groups.

“Once you graduate it’s gonna be about who you know that will get you into those jobs and make you successful,” Burgon said. “You got students here that travel in a two block radius around campus, they don’t know anything besides Wal-mart and the fast food places. This is a good opportunity for them to get to know what’s out in the community, and to get to know local businesses and what they have to offer.”