LEWISTON — More than 2,500 attendees talked with representatives of about 180 businesses, organizations and governmental agencies at the 15th annual Androscoggin Business To Business Tradeshow on Thursday.

Lewiston Mayor Larry Gilbert Jr. was talking with exhibitors throughout the day.

“I have been here since 9 o’clock and it’s now 2:30 and I am just now finishing up,” he said as he walked along the last row of booths that packed the floor of the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“It says that things are really happening here in L-A when this many businesses take part,” he said. “It’s a festive atmosphere.”

The participants ranged from large banking and health care institutions to many one-person operations.

John Stass, president of Katahdin Studio Furniture, said, “This is probably the seventh or eighth business show that I have been in, and I would say that this one has been the most productive. We have been busy all day. Even during the noon hour we had plenty of company.”

Stass said he had originally thought of this annual event as a chance for networking and public relations activity.

“Over the years, I would have to say that probably two of our largest orders ever came from this show,” Stass said. That would be for Auburn Public Library work and remodeling of the Marcotte Home chapel.

“I have come to look at this as more than a public relations thing. It is truly a marketing tool,” Stass said.

Katahdin Studio Furniture, which is at the Hill Mill in Lewiston, produces custom furniture for the music room, library and studio, but Stass finds that suggestions from customers at shows like this influence new product decisions. His booth featured two new pieces of home office furniture.

“We tend to work like hermits through the winter and we don’t see too many people in person,” he said, “so this is kind of like a coming-out party.”

The cities of Auburn and Lewiston shared side-by-side space with a demonstration of a new online system that represents coordination and cooperation in permitting and code enforcement for the Twin Cities.

David Galbraith, Auburn’s director of planning and permitting, said the cities are now together on building, electrical and fire codes, among other things such as fees.

“It’s the same on both sides of the river,” he said. “It’s the same application, same process. You can track your permit and where it’s going.”

Lincoln Jeffers, assistant to the administrator for the city of Lewiston, agreed that the software will be valuable for both city personnel and residents in both cities. He said Lewiston has been working for about a year to get up to speed on the project.

At the Community Credit Union booth, visitors found they might be the ones in the viewfinder of video cameras. Jennifer M. Hogan, marketing and business development director, said they were asking attendees to tell them what they think are highlights of L-A, and the video will be uploaded to YouTube and Facebook “for all the world to see.”

Maggie Vishneau, project director, and Lawrence Ullian, senior research associate, explained the Aging Worker Initiative of the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. It’s funded by a Department of Labor grant and Vishneau said their objective is to show employers how valuable older workers can be for them.

Danielle Sicotte, box office manager at Community Little Theatre in Auburn, talked with visitors from a booth that was a miniature version of the set for “Deathtrap,” the comedy/thriller play opening there Friday, June 18.

Kurk Lalemand, owner of Next Level Business Coaching, Auburn, noticed that traffic through the show was consistently heavy all day.

Nick Knowlton promoted his upcoming production, “PAL Hop Rocks Again: Reunion 2010.”

The show, sponsored by the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council, opened with a sold-out breakfast at which Matthew Hoffner, president of Jobg8.com, delivered the keynote address.

“I was a little concerned that the rain would keep people away, but it really has been quite the opposite,“ said Paul Badeau, LAEGC marketing director.

In his introduction to this year’s show, Lucien Gosselin, LAEGC president, noted that the show has “grown in size and stature from its initial roots as a showcase for a handful of local manufacturers to the state’s largest one-day business show.”

Margaritas Restaurant and the American Grill of Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch hosted an after-hours networking event with a variety of snacks at the end of the event.