Last week I visited the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast to attend the Gulf States Trade Alliance\u2019s 2012 Annual Export conference from April 10-12 at the Beau Rivage Resort.\u00a0 The theme for the event was \u201cExport Resources and New Market Opportunities for Small Business\u201d, and the markets focused on during the conference were Central America, the Caribbean, and Canada.\u00a0 First, a little background on the trade alliance.<\/p>\n
The Gulf Coast Trade Alliance consists of economic development agencies from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida who come together in organizing a regional conference each year focused on international trade and exporting.\u00a0 The conference highlights tools and resources available to small businesses in each of these four states that enable small business to enter into the world of international trade or grow their existing international business.<\/p>\n
After a warm welcome, the conference started out with a discussion of Caribbean market opportunities with discussions by Robert Jones, Counselor for Commercial Affairs for the Caribbean Region (U.S. Commercial Service, American Embassy, Santo Domingo, DR) and Gandy Thomas, Consul General of Haiti Atlanta.\u00a0 Mr. Jones discussed the benefits of doing business in the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean nations and noted that among \u00a0the best prospects for exporting to the region are:\u00a0 construction in support of tourism, medical equipment and supplies, and renewable energy.\u00a0 As many businesses engaged in export already know, the United States also has a free trade agreement that encompasses the Dominican Republic making trade with that Caribbean country even more inviting for U.S. businesses.\u00a0 Mr. Thomas spoke to the fact that demands in Haiti for energy and manufacturing is huge, and the plethora of languages spoken in the region suggests that Haiti is a prime location for businesses to locate call centers.\u00a0 Each speaker identified that one of the most important aspects of doing business in the Caribbean is establishing relationships face to face and keeping up those relationships even after your visit to their sunny islands.<\/p>\n
Later in the conference we heard from Leroy Sheffer, Managing Partner, ITAS Group (Specialized Services Firm, American Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Panama) and Bryan Smith (Counselor, Commercial Affiars for the U.S. Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica regarding opportunities in Central America, specifically Panama and Costa Rica.<\/p>\n
Rounding out the afternoon was Jennifer Rosebrugh, the Senior Trade Commissioner for the Consulate General of Canada located in Atlanta, Georgia.\u00a0 Ms. Rosebrugh extolled the virtues of doing business with Canada, the United States largest trading partner.\u00a0 Similar to Mr. Jones and Mr. Thomas, Ms. Rosebrugh said that a key to international trading is to do business with honesty, reliability, kindness, friendliness, compassion, civility, forgiveness, and generosity, and these actions are much more easily undertaken with someone who you\u2019ve met face to face than with someone solely interacted with over email and phone.<\/p>\n
Other conference speakers discussed services that will help a small business engage in international trade.\u00a0 These services are provided by agencies such as the U.S. Commercial Service<\/a>, the Small Business Administration<\/a>, the Southern U.S. Trade Association, the Mississippi Development Authority<\/a> (or other state development boards<\/a>), banks with international departments, law firms with expertise in international trade issues<\/a>, customs brokers, etc.\u00a0 If you are considering entering into international trade business or looking to expand the business you already have, there are many resources available.\u00a0 Using these resources from the outset to ensure you are making the right choices for your company will help you succeed in both the short and long term.\u00a0 Understanding both the advantages and pitfalls of international trade will allow your company to make wise decisions that will help ensure your success.<\/p>\n Our firm provides not only legal services for those who have already encountered issues related to international trade, but we also provide business services for those seeking to engage in or expand their trade operations in a way that helps them avoid legal problems down the line.\u00a0 With over three decades of experience in international trade from both the logistics and the legal sides, we can help you ensure your company is on the right track.\u00a0 For more information, please visit our website at www.customscourt.com<\/a> , email us at either nmooney@customscourt.com<\/a> or smorrison@customscourt.com<\/a>, or call us at (850) 893-0670 or (800) 583-0250.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week I visited the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast to attend the Gulf States Trade Alliance\u2019s 2012 Annual Export conference from April 10-12 at the Beau Rivage Resort.\u00a0 The theme for the event was \u201cExport Resources and New Market Opportunities for Small Business\u201d, and the markets focused on during the conference were Central America, the Caribbean, and Canada.\u00a0 First, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[38,41,47,75,83,85,131,152,196,205,220,226],"class_list":["post-167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-canada","tag-caribbean","tag-central-america","tag-dominican-republic","tag-export","tag-export-assistance","tag-international-trade","tag-mississippi-gulf-coast","tag-santo-domingo","tag-small-business","tag-u-s-commercial-service","tag-united-states-commercial-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}