Forum speakers: Exports can be profitable

Thursday, Sep. 1, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Brian Lewis⁄The Gazette Jim Melonas, managing director of the World Trade CenterInstitute in Baltimore, speaks at Wednesday’s seminar.

It’s a trend that Frederick County’s businesses want to cash in on.

Almost two dozen representatives of the Frederick business community gathered Wednesday morning at Frederick Community College to learn how.

The Frederick County Office of Economic Development, Frederick County Chamber of Commerce and Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development held a free international trade seminar to help businesses break into international markets.

Speakers included representatives from the U.S. Export Assistance Center, DBED’s International Office, the banking and legal industries, and representatives of businesses already exporting products. Topics included cultural differences, private and public financing and accessing other available resources.

The seminar was moderated by Alexander Amdur of the U.S. Department of Commerce, who called his office ‘‘the one-stop shop for those looking into exporting.”

Maria Angelica Vargas, DBED’s international trade and investment specialist for the western Maryland region, which includes Frederick and Montgomery counties, discussed DBED’s support of Maryland companies developing export capabilities and encouragement of foreign investment in the state. ‘‘We offer trade counseling in order to mitigate the risks and help maximize export potential,” Vargas said.

DBED has offices around the world, including in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, South Africa, France, Israel, China, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore.

Deborah Conrad, senior international credit officer for the U.S. Small Business Administration, discussed new developments in international trade, emphasizing the importance of staying current with regulations.

‘‘Since 9⁄11 there have been a lot of changes in the [shipping] regulations,” Conrad said. In light of these changes, she said, it might be impractical for a company to ship something as innocuous as an electric toothbrush overseas.

‘‘It’s a very steep learning curve” with international trade, Conrad said. However, ‘‘it’s also a very profitable learning curve.” A business has to think of ‘‘going into another market, realizing they’re in it for the long haul.”

Jim Melonas, managing director for the World Trade Center Institute in Maryland agreed. ‘‘Companies have to be able to sustain the ability to develop in the [foreign] market over time ... so that deals get done and lasting relationships are formed,” he said.

‘‘It’s a monumental task for a company to get involved,” said Marie Keegin, director of the Frederick County Office of Economic Development.

‘‘I think the resource material we pulled together [will really help]. It will be something that we, and the companies around the county, will be able to use for some time to come,” Keegin said.

For more information or for copies of the resource material, contact the Frederick County Office of Economic Development at 301-694-1058.