Small business center helps Pennsylvania exporters - Kutztown University Small Business Development Center

Business America, April 5, 1993

HARRISBURG, PA.--The Export Development Program of the Kutztown University Small Business Development Center is the site of one of the most innovative, cost-effective export promotion programs for small- and mid-sized manufacturers. Assisting companies in the seven-county area surrounding Harrisburg, the Export Development Program (EDP) can be viewed as the bottom rung on the ladder of available export promotion services. The small staff, limited by an even smaller budget, learned to solve common problems associated with export promotion by offering innovative solutions.

The EDP staff solved its initial hurdle of identifying potential exporters by developing the Automated Export Identifier System (AEIS), a computerized trade lead matching system. AEIS not only matches trade leads with a database of manufacturers, but also prints them out and keeps a record of all matched leads. This system proved to be a very useful tool in developing a database of motivated exporters. In fact, AEIS was so effective in south central Pennsylvania that the program is now implemented throughout the state. With the help of a U.S. Small Business Administration grant, a network of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) provides timely trade leads free of charge to any Pennsylvania company that requests the service. The AEIS program is also for sale and currently in place in several out-of-state export promotion sites.

Of course, trade leads are only the catalyst for motivating manufacturers to seriously evaluate their product's export potential. They are followed by direct on-site counseling, general market research, and devising a strategy--much like other export promotion programs. The Export Development Program staff diligently tries to keep informed about all export-related services offered, and works closely with the federal and state Departments of Commerce, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and other programs to ensure that companies are aware of all relevant services. Through newly available online database sources, the EDP can provide companies with valuable, up-to-date market information, as well as information regarding competitor's exports, foreign buyers, and potential agents and distributors.

Realizing that three years worth of letter writing and market research can be accomplished by "walking" an international trade show, the EDP continues to encourage companies to visit trade shows. Unfortunately, many smaller companies are unwilling to spend much money on overseas travel until they are sure their product has potential, but they cannot learn about this potential until they travel overseas.

So the Export Development Program takes export assistance one step further by providing direct overseas marketing help by either accompanying a company representative overseas or by visiting trade shows and meeting with potential customers on their behalf. In Asia, this is accomplished by having the part-time international business consultant combine visiting foreign trade shows while on non-Small Business Development Center travels.

In Europe, the EDP has actually set up its own trade office that not only provides direct marketing assistance, such as locating and evaluating trade contacts, providing market research, advertising assistance, and follow-up service, but also offers a "hand holding" service for those manufacturers attending a foreign trade show for the first time.

Setting up an office in Brussels, Belgium, to provide assistance to a handful of south central Pennsylvania companies sounds expensive. However, it operates on a shoestring budget of less than $50,000. The Central Pennsylvania European Representative for Trade (CPERT) is supported entirely by private funds, from area economic development corporations and companies. Fortunately the CPERT is able to rent office space from the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce operations in Brussels at very low cost. Running the Brussels office is a former student intern from the Netherlands, who worked with EDP companies for a whole semester and then took several manufacturers to the Hannover Industrial Fair as a pilot project. Since its conception, CPERT has served over 27 satisfied Pennsylvania companies. Fortunately for all Pennsylvania companies, the state's Department of Commerce is now providing grants to small- and mid-sized companies, helping defray costs associated with visiting international trade shows. These grants helped three CPERT clients last year in attending a trade show in Europe. All CPERT services are customized. ensuring that each client's specific needs are met. For this, clients pay a yearly fee of $250 and reimburse the cost for mailings, phone calls, and special travel undertaken on their behalf.

A new-to-export company comes to the Export Development Program first, then grows into the services offered by state and later federal sources. Currently, the EDP provides trade leads to over 350 companies and each month actively works with approximately 25 continuous clients and six one-time clients. The staff consists of one full-time and one part-time consultant, and two or three college interns. Most services are provided free of charge. Database access is reimbursed at this point and there is a charge for the CPERT program. The EDP is currently trying to expand assistance in Asia and is also working on setting up a network of international business schools in order to provide low-cost market research that is done in-country by students under the supervision of their professors.