U.S. Commerce Department helps to increase Long Island firms'

Long Island Business News, Mar 2, 2007 by Ross Daly

It's a big world out there, so the Long Island Software and Technology Network is launching a group to increase local firms' awareness of international markets.

Spearheading the effort is Shakir Farsakh, director of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Long Island Export Assistance Center.

"It is aimed at all companies seeking to increase international sales," Farsakh said, noting the group will focus on small and medium-sized companies. Larger companies won't be excluded, he added, but they tend to be internationally savvy already.

"Major companies like CA, Arrow, and Motorola are doing a lot of their business internationally," said Savio Chan, president of U.S.- China Partners and a leader of the new group. "But some of the smaller companies are not aware of the opportunities."

Some firms "don't have the first clue about how it's done and what the pitfalls are," said LISTnet President Peter Goldsmith, and LISTnet's goal for those firms "is to inform people and let them know what their options are."

Farsakh approached LISTnet about starting the group a couple of months ago, Goldsmith said, to an enthusiastic reception. "Having someone from the U.S. Department of Commerce gives it more legs," Goldsmith said.

The backers of the special interest group hope to have its first meeting within a few weeks.

Farsakh's Long Island Export Assis-tance Center is a branch office of the Department of Commerce charged with creating high- paying export jobs. Through the international interest group, he will make available market research from the Commerce Department.

The department uses the global network of commercial sections at U.S. embassies to connect firms to customers, and it can vet them. It recruits visitors to trade shows and arranges for U.S. firms to exhibit overseas.

Companies can also buy ads in a magazine, Commercial News USA, which the department distributes to subscribers through the embassies.

Farsakh, who has been director of the center since October, hopes to find the center office space on Long Island by this spring. The center was in Mineola until a fire forced it out about two years ago; Farsakh currently operates out of Manhattan.

Chan, whose company works to connect Chinese and American companies, said that even firms with international experience can gain from exchanges with the new group.

"The context of doing local biz is very different than the context of doing international business," he said.

And since international growth can surpass local growth, Chan offers LI businesses this advice:

"Don't just think on the Island, think beyond the Island," he said. "There are a lot of opportunities for marketing and selling internationally."