Europe and South America Trade Mission Recap

The Wisconsin Department of Commerce coordinated two missions for firms seeking to expand their export sales in Europe and South America during March and April.

Eight firms travelled to Ireland and the United Kingdom March 9-14, 2008. Unlike previous trade missions where the entire delegation travels as a group from one location to another, the participants on the Ireland/U.K. mission received a schedule that was customized to meet their individual business priorities. The group started out together in Dublin with a Business & Market Briefing conducted by staff of the U.S. Embassy and Wisconsin's European Trade Office that was designed to provide the mission participants with an overview of the Irish market, business protocol, economic trends, and an opportunity to ask specific questions relating to their business/industry.

During the rest of the week, each participant followed a customized schedule of appointments. Some stayed in Dublin while others made stops in Cork, County Kildare, County Wicklow, and County Louth in Ireland as well as Belfast, Cambridge, Exeter, Leeds, Manchester, and York in the U.K. Staff from Wisconsin's European Trade Office or Commerce's Wisconsin-based European Specialist, Brad Schneider, traveled with the firms and provided background support to the companies on their individual itineraries. The participants whose appointment schedule brought them to London attended a breakfast briefing sponsored by JP Morgan Chase to discuss the British economy and foreign exchange markets.

Chris Frigo, President of Forté Composites, Inc. expects that at least one new major target customer will be on-board by the end of this year and anticipates new international sales in the range of $10,000-$100,000 as a result of the mission. Beyond just the realization of a vendor-customer relationship, Forté also foresees the longer-term possibility of forming a strategic partnership with another U.K. company which would involve the licensing of their technology.

Humane Manufacturing Company LLC had seven appointments scheduled in Ireland and Donna Wilkinson, the firm's Director of Sales, said that her meetings were ‘better than expected' and she anticipates that four international deals with initial sales between $10,000 and $100,000 will come to fruition in the next year.

Kretz Lumber Company Inc. reported that four qualified international leads were identified on the mission and two of them are planning visits to the Kretz facility in Antigo in the coming months. Other mission participants represented Big River Lumber Co., Bonstone Materials, Logicare Corp., Marth Wood Supply, and Wisconsin Bench.

The South America mission included stops in Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and São Paulo, Brazil, April 19-29. Five Wisconsin companies participated, along with four from Minnesota and seven from Ohio. The mission was organized by the Council of Great Lakes Governors office in Chicago. The Council manages a network of shared international trade offices, including offices in these three countries.

With economic growth strong in all three countries, it was a good time for exporters to pursue new contacts in the region. Wisconsin's mission participants met with a total of 86 potential representatives and clients in sectors ranging from agriculture to heavy equipment to fast-food restaurant chains. One Wisconsin participant was able to attend industry-specific trade shows in Chile and Brazil during the mission. While further details of results are pending, one participant stated "what you did for me and my company I could not have done on my own."

Briefings were organized in each country, covering trade and investment, economic and political updates, tax and other legal issues and the local business culture. Speakers included officials from the US Embassy, as well as local attorneys.

While the company participants were in their business meetings, representatives from the Council, Wisconsin, and Ohio met with US Embassy staff, American Chambers of Commerce in Chile and Argentina, local industry associations and economic development organizations. Our goal was to gather information to assist other state exporters as needed in the future, and to promote our states as good locations for foreign direct investment.

-- Stanley Pfrang