'E' and 'E-Star' Awards are given to two Maryland firms - World Trade Center Institute; RTKL Associates Inc.; Miner Enterprises; National Metal Specialist; Snider Mold Co - Company Profile

Business America, Feb, 1998 by Scott Pozil

World Trade Center Institute, Baltimore

The World Trade Center Institute (WTCI) was founded in 1989 with two concrete goals: to aid economic development in Maryland by stimulating and promoting the export of Maryland-produced goods and services and to increase the involvement of the private sector in international trade development. WTCI, established as an educational body, has evolved into a very proactive export promotion organization. The Department of Commerce recognized the WTCI's accomplishments by awarding it the "E" Award last year.

The WTCI has implemented a "three-pronged" approach that serves to educate and assist businesses through the export process. This approach involves practical business educational programs, information services, and professional networking opportunities. These programs and services are provided in conjunction with a "productive network of partnering organizations."

One of these partner organizations is the U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) in Baltimore, Md. The WTCI has worked with the USEAC to offer seminars on doing business in specific countries, advanced finance, marketing strategy, and much more. Seminar speakers range from Department of Commerce Foreign Commercial Officers to international trade bankers from local Maryland banks. The participants who attend these seminars are drawn from clientele of the Baltimore USEAC, Maryland Office of International Business, and other local trade organizations. Andrea DeLeon, Deputy Director of the WTCI, says, "Our relationship with the USEAC has helped us to secure high-level speakers that are a draw for Mid-Atlantic-based companies." She cites the example of the South Africa Roundtable in May 1996, in which the USEAC and the Maryland Office of International Business secured Vice President Al Gore and South Africa's Deputy President Thabo Mbeki as the featured speakers.

Providing the opportunity for WTCI members and others to meet and discuss international business matters is frequently cited as one of the most valuable services the WTCI provides. During the last five years, the WTCI has reached approximately 15,000 business executives, government officials, entrepreneurs, and scholars by offering various programs and services. These include seminars, business programs, executive briefings, special presentations, large company roundtable discussions, and visits by foreign dignitaries. The WTCI also brings together companies through a proactive referral system where members and other exporters alike can benefit by forming symbiotic relationships with other firms capable of fulfilling a particular need. DeLeon explains, "The high-level networking provided through various programs formats has provided Mid-Atlantic businesses with invaluable contacts that have led to business deals."

In addition, the WTCI has organized and managed international trade events, such as the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce's 1995 annual convention in Washington, D.C. Due to WTCI's co-sponsorship and management of the event, Maryland businesses that were interested in exporting to Russia were provided with an "important networking opportunity."

The WTCI's use of information technology resources enables them to provide research and marketing assistance to Mid-Atlantic businesses concerned with export trade development. An expert staff, a library of essential trade information, multiple computerized databases, Internet research expertise, a comprehensive home page on the World Wide Web (http://www.wtci.org), invaluable local contacts, and a global network of World Trade Centers enable the WTCI to serve as a catalyst for expanding and identifying overseas markets for regional exporters. DeLeon views the use of information technology as a "vital part of how we communicate with our members and area companies, and how we gather information from other trade centers around the world."

The WTCI's broad programming strategy and effective referral system is also implemented through its regular publications -- designed to keep export trade issues and opportunities at the forefront of the Maryland business community at all times. For example, WTCI publishes a monthly newsletter WorldView, a joint publication of the state of Maryland, the WTCI, and the Maryland International Trade Association. WorldView includes information on upcoming seminar and trade shows in Maryland, stories of companies that have achieved export success, and trade leads. WTCI makes this publication available in its library and on the Internet.

DeLeon asserts, "The World Trade Center Institute will continue to keep working towards its ultimate goal, to bring all international initiatives best executed by a private organization under one roof, in order to provide the Mid-Atlantic's international business community with the most comprehensive, timely, and informative export assistance possible."

RTKL Associates, Inc., Baltimore

RTKL Associates Inc., one of America's five largest architecture and engineering (A/E) firms was awarded the "E Star" Award in May 1997. "We are very proud, particularly to be the only architecture firm honored this way," RTKL Chairman Harold L. Adams stated.