Money Will Help Boost Trade

Companies of all sizes are finding opportunities in global markets, helping grow the state’s exports 36 percent in one year.

Leaders of the World Trade Center Arkansas hope a $160,000 grant will push that number even higher.

“This Economic Development Administration grant will provide operating expenses to continue assisting businesses in Arkansas to expand globally,” said Dan Hendrix, the center’s president and chief executive officer.

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The U.S. Economic Development Administration is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The trade center will not receive the grant money until after the government shutdown ends.

Hendrix said the center’s efforts contributed to the state’s exports hitting $7.6 billion in 2012, up from $5.6 billion in 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“All of these efforts expand economic development for Arkansas and we anticipate this grant will further increase our export capabilities,” he said.

The University of Arkansas holds the trade center’s license and started the program in September 2006. Offices are in the Shoppes at Pinnacle Hills in Rogers.

The center’s mission is to connect Arkansas to the world by providing international trade services to the state’s companies, agricultural producers and entrepreneurs, and by educating students in global commerce.

The Rogers’ office is part of the World Trade Centers Association, a New York-based not-for-profit organization operating in 330 cities across 100 countries.

Laura James, World Trade Center Arkansas project manager, said programs, workshops and research help the center educate business owners.

“These funds will also help us represent companies when we go on outbound trade missions and help them explore potential partners,” James said.

The center is membership-based, but some of the educational programs are available to the general public, said Denise Thomas, director of external relations and the Africa Trade Desk. Membership fee is $300 for an individual or $2,000 for a company.

The World Trade Center Arkansas has hosted more than 50 trade missions in the past seven years that brought dignitaries and ambassadors into the area, Thomas said. The center has even hosted presidents from three countries, including a 2007 visit by President George W. Bush.

Thomas said the center has also coordinated more than 30 trade missions to other countries, including one earlier this year for Fayetteville-based Pacific Vet Group-USA.

Pacific Vet develops, manufactures and markets products for the poultry and livestock industries and serves customers in Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Mexico and the United States through affiliate companies.

Chris Pixley, Pacific Vet Group-USA’s vice president of operations, said the trade center helped pay for a trip to Bangkok, Thailand, so they could participate in the VIV Asia Conference that caters to the poultry industry.

“We were able to set up a booth at the conference and met with quite a large number of potential and existing Asian customers,” he said.

Pixley said he also had high-level meeting with executives from Charoen Pokphand Foods, one of Thailand’s largest agro-industrial and food companies.

“The initial meetings with CP Foods were so successful we had follow-up meetings with them here in Northwest Arkansas,” he said.

The trade center also helped Pacific Vet Group strengthen existing relationships, Pixley said. A luncheon with the Indonesian ambassador helped the company get approval for two products that had been stalled in the process for more than a year. Pixley said the company is close to finalizing the approval of two more products in Indonesia.

“Communication is one of the most important things you need in business. When you are dealing with other time zones, different cultures and languages, having the ability to sit down in the same room and walk through the data is key,” he said.

Thomas said the center is focusing on the agricultural, energy and educational sectors after a report by the U.S. State Department outlined those as the strongest future export areas.

“Those three areas really lined up with what we are doing in Arkansas,” she said.

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