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Division
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Investment and Export
PO Box 7970
Madison, WI 53707-7970
USA
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Vol.
7 #5, May 2008
Results of Past Trade Missions
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 of this year. The delegation that visited Ireland and
the U.K. was lead by Commerce Secretary, Jack L. Fischer. The South
America mission was coordinated by the Council of Great Lakes
Governors. While no governors participated in that trip, the group
included business people from Minnesota and Ohio, as well as Wisconsin.
Eight Wisconsin 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.
Mr. Chris Frigo, President of Forté Composites, Inc. from De
Pere, 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 of Baraboo had seven appointments
scheduled in Ireland and Ms. 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. of Antigo 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.
One of the participants, Mr. Jeff Gunderson, Director of Sales &
Marketing for Glue Dots International of New Berlin, had this to say
about the mission, “What you did for me and my company I could
not have done on my own.” Mr. Gunderson predicts the
meetings during the mission will generate $100,000+ in annual business
for his company. Mr. Kyle Montgomery, Manager of New Business
Development for Aova Technologies from Madison, is expecting great
potential in both the Brazilian and Chilean markets, after product
trials have been completed by potential partners they met during the
mission. Mr. Paul Beagan, Sales Manager for DMK U.S.A. in Stevens
Point, is negotiating with contacts made during the mission, and stated
“it would have taken months longer to accomplish all of this if I
had done it on my own. DMK obtained a very high return on the
money we invested in the mission.”
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.
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