Heat and humidity did not keep a crowd of more than 250 entrepreneurs from showing up at the TechExec networking event on Tuesday night.

Among the attendees at host goodmortgage.com’s headquarters in Charlotte’s booming South End were two executives who have their eyes on the Charlotte market. Both were drawn to the TechExec, which is a joint effort of Local Tech Wire and the Business Innovation and growth Council, by the chance to mix with many of the Queen City’s movers and shakers.

“Charlotte has a large banking market and we want to tap that,” said Trevor Lohrbeer, chief executive officer of Lab Escape, who traveled from Asheville to begin tapping the Charlotte market. “I made good contacts tonight and am building a database that will be very valuable to our business.”

Also on hand was Rufus Lohmueller, president of Lohmueller, Inc., which is based in Raleigh. Lohmueller drove to the Charlotte event to begin the firm’s expansion efforts.

Lohmueller was recognized on Tuesday as the No. 2 reseller of NetSuite customer relationship management and business management software in the US. NetSuite recently was recognized as the second fastest growing software company in the US with an annual growth rate of 1400 percent.

Lohmueller wants to expand his business to capitalize on its momentum, which has been named a NetSuite “star partner” each of the three years it has sold NetSuite. .

“We are pleased with this accomplishment and are setting goals to continue on this path with expansion of staff and services that we provide to North Carolina,” Lohmueller said.

‘Tech Sauna’

The rain held off and a cool breeze helped keep TechExec attendees somewhat cool at times. But the conditions led host Keith Luedeman, founder of goodmortgage.com, to joke: “It’s the first annual tech exec sauna event.

“Tonight was a great turnout,” he added. “Anytime you get a group of CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders together having fun, relationships are built.”

Leslie Dwyer of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board came to the Tech Exec for the first time — and was impressed. “The relaxed atmosphere was outgoing and conducive to meeting new people. There are companies here I have never talked to before. This was a great experience.”

Jonathan Kessler of Nouveon Tech Partners came for the first time, too. “This was one of the better networking events,” he said. “The relaxed atmosphere gave me the ability to meet people from various sectors and the event drew top tech execs.”

Back for More

The TechExec wasn’t just for first-timers, however. Many attendees were back for a second or third time.

Ty Mcbride, owner of Via-Source, was in attendance for the third time. “This is great,” he said. “There are a lot of people here to talk to, in fact this is the best turnout of ay I’ve been to. The Tech Exec always draws lots of people in leadership positions.”

LTW, the BIG Council and goodmortgage,com were assisted by several other sponsors — Peak 10, RBC Centura, Grant Thornton, CT Communications, The Business Law Advisors, Meca Properties, Atherton Mill, Moonlight Real Estate, UNC CH Business School and Business Wire.

“This was a great turnout and venue,” said Andy Pressley of Meca Properties. “The setup was great even though it was hot, we managed to stay dry.”

David Jones, chief executive officer of Peak 10 whose firm hosted the first Tech Exec in Charlotte, liked what he saw in the exchanges taking place in the crowd.

“It was great to see so many entrepreneurs in one place,” he said. “This is an example of how we can pull the business community together by getting them out at events like this. After a slow spring, summer is beginning to pick because of the Chamber, BIG and events like the Tech Exec.”