Chickens might be small animals, but they’re the backbone, wing, thigh and breast of a huge industry and a tight-knit community.

Poultry professionals from around the world are gathering this week at the The International Production and Processing Expo in the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

This year, the expo is an integration of three trade shows, including the International Poultry Expo, the International Meat Expo and the International Feed Expo. The event will continue today and Thursday.

Visitors have the opportunity to visit the booths of more than 1,000 exhibitors and learn about products that cover every function of the poultry industry.

More than 25,000 people are expected to attend.

Several businesses based in the North Georgia area are represented.

One Gainesville-based company, Merial Select Inc., an animal health company that makes vaccinations for chickens, uses the expo to interact with its international customers.

“A lot of it is the chance to see people you talk to on the phone and email with all year long,” said David Smith, director of veterinary services and marketing for Merial.

He said it’s not uncommon to see people he recognizes from Gainesville at the expo since poultry is such a vital piece of the area’s economy.

“Most people don’t realize how big an impact the poultry industry is in Hall County,” Smith said. “I think after the hospital system, the poultry industry is the biggest economic driver in the county.”

While the expo is good for business, Smith said it’s also good for promoting research and education.

The International Poultry Expo is the primary source of funding for the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, the world’s largest poultry organization. Funds earned at the expo are put back into the industry through research grants, educational programs, communications and technical assistance.

Though many of the people who attend are from Georgia and surrounding states, the expo attracts people from around the world. In 2011, the expo drew hundreds of people from Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and China.

Morris Hatchery, a Gillsville-based company, also used its booth to meet with existing and potential international clients.

“This has become more of an international show,” said Rickey Smith, vice president of Morris Hatchery. “We have a lot of our customers that come to visit here.”

The company’s biggest markets are in the Caribbean, Canada, Ukraine, Russia and Central America. Morris Hatchery exports 5« million eggs per week and is the world’s largest hatching egg exporter, said Rickey Smith.

He also said the last few years have been hard on many poultry companies.

“Right now, there is kind of a shortage of hatching eggs,” Rickey Smith said. “It’s been tough with the feed prices. Corn and soybeans are expensive. (We) had some tough years.”

Though the industry has been impacted by the economy in recent years, many exhibitors said they are optimistic.

At the booth of Cantrell, a Gainesville poultry processing equipment sales and service company, representatives provided curious onlookers with demonstrations of their products.

Dane Woods, general manager of sales, service and engineering at Cantrell, said his booth was very busy for the first day of the expo. He said conversations with the people visiting the booth are encouraging this year.

“People are talking about spending money, which is good to hear,” Woods said laughing. “It wasn’t like that last year.”

Not to say the company didn’t do well at the last expo; Woods said he sold several pieces of equipment on the floor last year.

Woods said there have been a lot of people asking about Cantrell’s newest product, a wing segmenter that makes accurate cuts at any line speed. He said people are talking about the Super Bowl and a shortage of wings.

“That’s good we got this new machine,” Woods said. “That was good timing on our part. We’re optimistic.”

While it’s a good opportunity to talk shop with potential customers, the expo provides businesses an opportunity to build current relationships. A lot of people move from company to company within the poultry industry. The expo helps reconnect businesses and people.

“It’s big business, but really it’s a small community with what we do,” Woods said. “Everybody knows one another.”