Exporting pays off - Bright of America

Business America, Sept 25, 1989

The rise of the dollar in the mid-1980s tested the export determination of a West Virginia manufacturer of plastic laminated placemats and other household/novelty products. The company kept trying during the difficult period and has increased its foreign sales each year for the past three years. We select our export success stories, not because we endorse any particular firm or its business plan and activities, but because we believe their experiences will instruct other companies to improve their export performance. We welcome your export success story. Write or call us: Business America, Room 3414, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230; (202) 377-3251.

Sales executives of Bright of America of Summersville, West Va., hardly gave a thought to exporting during the firm's first 10 years. Then something happened.

The firm was exhibiting its plastic laminated placemats and other household/novelty products at the Chicago Housewares Show in 1973. An Australian looked over Bright of America's products and said he wanted to place an order. The clerks at the exhibit booth were startled. They didn't know how to take a foreign order, or how to ship products to Australia, or how to arrange payment. Nor did anyone else at the firm.

The Australian came to the rescue, telling them to hire a freight forwarder. He said he would pay upon receipt of the merchandise. Bright of America followed his suggestion . . . he paid promptly and became a steady customer for 10 years.

The incident convinced William T. Bright, owner of the company, that the firm had better start an international marketing program. He and the President of the firm soon scheduled a trip to Europe to look for foreign customers.

Today, Bright of America sells its products in 40 countries. Among the markets are Kenya and Tahiti, for which the firm makes special "postcard" plastic laminated placemats.

Maralyn Boley, International Sales Manager, says the company got off to a strong start overseas, but then ran into a roadblock when the dollar shot up in the mid-1980s. "We had to go uphill for a few years, but we hung on. We continued our foreign travel and we kept participating in trade shows. We understood that these things run in cycles. For three straight years now, each year has been a little better than the previous year."

Boley is not easily discouraged on any front. She had planned to participate in the International Hardware and Housewares Show in Birmingham, England, next January at an American Pavilion under the auspices of the National Housewares Association. When the association withdrew from the show, Boley decided to go ahead anyway and exhibit Bright of America products there on her own. "To succeed in exporting, you have to do a little extra," Boley said.

Bright of America, a client of the Charleston District Office of the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, is a regular user of the Department's export services, including the Agent/Distributor Service, the Great Stores of the World program, and the Comparison Shopping Service.

William Bright organized the company in 1963 in his hometown, population 3,000. It has a core employment of 300 people, but in the fall, the plant employs 1,000 to 1,200 persons. In 1984, Bright was named Small Business Exporter of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Last year, the company received the Governor's Award for Exporting. And this spring, Bright was named West Virginia Entrepreneur of the Year by West Virginia University.