Export '89: a trade show for small business - includes listing of components of Export '89

A trade show just for small business will be held in Germany later this year. EXPORT '89-The American-European Small Business Trade Congress-is the first international event that the Department of Commerce has sponsored exclusively for small business. It will be held at the Frankfurt Exhibition Center, Oct. 25-29.

EXPORT '89 will provide an excellent opportunity to showcase American products and services in the lucrative European market. Europeans purchased nearly $90 billion worth of U.S. products in 1988, and are buying at an increasing rate so far this year.

EXPORT '89 is happening at an ideal time. The 12 member countries of the European Community will be a single integrated market of 320 million consumers with a purchasing power of $4 trillion in 1992. Now is the time to act to obtain a share of this market. For participation details call the sales office of Kotch & Poliak at (212) 557-6950.

EXPORT '89 is a government/industry partnership. On the government side, it is supported by the District of Columbia's Office of International Business; the Export-Import Bank of the United States; the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; the state of Delaware; the State of Wisconsin (the Governor has declared Oct. 22-29 EXPORT '89 Week); the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; the U.S. Maritime Administration; and the U.S. Small Business Administration. In addition, the Small Business Council of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the American International Trade Association are all providing marketing and/or policy support for this initiative. To date, on the corporate side, EXPORT' 89 is supported by American Airlines; Faxon Co. , International Division; Gammex , Inc.; International Science and Technology Institute, Inc.; KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Cargo Division; NSM Inc.; NutraSweet; Tele-Signal Corp.; Touche Ross; Watson, Rice and Co. ; and the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

Why is it important to have a trade event exclusively for small business? So small business firms can interact with their own peer group,and see attention focused on their particular marketing interests and needs, which they do not believe happens when they are integrated with big business in the international arena.

EXPORT '89 stemmed from the policy initiatives of a group of business advisers appointed by the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative to the Industry Sector Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business for Trade Policy Matters (ISAC 14). Some of the ISAC members were also elected delegates to the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business. Working with the Department of Commerce, these U.S. small business representatives have developed a program that combines the trade policy activities of the ISAC with marketplace opportunities.

Small businesspersons will have an opportunity during EXPORT '89 to consider not only the short-term goal of increasing sales, but also longer-term issues that influence the trade environment within which they operate. The EXPORT '89 Trade Issues Symposium will provide a forum for U.S. and European small businesspersons to examine issues influencing their ability to market their products in each others' countries. U.S. small business has identified four issues on which to begin a dialogue: improving market access through elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers; improving access to traditional private sector sources of export financing and developing creative new approaches to securing financing for trade; techniques for adjusting to the "EC 1992" program; and protection for small business intellectual property rights.

In preparation for the Trade Issues Symposium in Frankfurt, a series of regional conferences sponsored by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Cargo Division, will be held in the United States in Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, and San Francisco. The purpose of these workshops, which will be completed by the end of June, is to broaden the dialogue between the individuals who will present the U.S. small business perspective on these issues in Frankfurt and the U.S. small business community.

The following private sector individuals are preparing papers to present in Frankfurt on the U.S. small business perspective on the issues identified above. U.S. small businesspersons are encouraged to contact these people with their ideas and viewpoints.

Market access: tariff and non-tariff barriers-Dr. Stanton G. Cort, Associate Professor and Head, Marketing Division, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, tel. (216)-368-2064/2095, fax (216) 368-4793.

Export financing-Dr. Donna Goehle, Director of Corporate Consulting Program, American Graduate School of International Management, 3630 North 3 1st St., Glendale, Ariz. 85306, tel. (602) 978-7011, fax (606) 439-5432.

EC 1992 and Its Impact on Small Business-Mr. James R. Phillips, Managing Director, California Trade and Investment Office, London, WIY 7PH England.

Intellectual property rights-Mr. Anthony Padgett, Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, 2300 N St., N.W., Suite 650, Washington, D.C. 20037, tel. (202) 663-8800, fax (202) 429-1909.

Components of EXPORT '89

To allow small business to take advantage of marketplace opportunities and participate in discussions on trade issues, EXPORT '89 includes the following components:

American Trade Fair

State and local governments, trade associations, port authorities, and world trade organizations will represent their constituents. Some of these organizations will also sponsor the products of individual companies, and some individual small businesses may exhibit as well.

Business Opportunities Exchange Individual companies will identify the products or services they want to promote at EXPORT '89, and also indicate whether they are looking for immediate sales, a new business prospect, a sales representative, a licensing agreement, or a joint-venture partner. The European cosponsor will identify a European company interested in the U.S. product or service.

Export Seminar Program . Small businesses will attend the seminars 'that will most benefit their requirements or enhance their present exporting experience.

Trade Issue Symposium The symposium will enable small business to discuss the trade issues with the greatest impact on their products or services, and carry recommendations back to their governments for consideration.

More information is available from Helen Burroughs, U.S. Executive Director, (202) 377-3277, or Kay Thompson, U.S. Co-Chair, Trade Issues Symposium, (202) 377-2474. Those interested in participating should call the sales office of Kotch & Poliak at (212) 557-6950.

WISCONSIN MAN IS NAMED

SBA EXPORTER OF THE YEAR

The 1989 U.S. Small Business Administration Exporter of the Year is Duane Repp of Waukesha, Wisc., President of DMT Corporation, a small manufacturer of generator sets and electrical controls for stanby and prime power applications, and DMT World Trade, Inc., an export trading company. Repp is one of the special award winners being honored in Washingron D.C., during Small Business Week, May 7-13.

Repp serves on the Wisconsin Governor's Advisory Committee on International Trade and has lectured on small business exports before civic service and other groups.

COPYRIGHT 1989 U.S. Government Printing Office
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