When Connecticut aerospace manufacturer Bauer Inc. was ready to expand its marketing and sales efforts into European and Asian markets, it turned to the U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center (EAC) in Middletown, Conn for market information, trade leads, support, and guidance. Thanks in part to the efforts of the Middletown EAC, Bauer, once primarily a domestic supplier of aircraft maintenance equipment, is today a major international supplier of aerospace maintenance equipment and test systems.
      The Middletown Export Assistance Center is part of a network of U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Service offices located in 47 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and at U.S. embassies in 81 countries. Through the Middletown EAC office, companies can access a wide range of export promotion services to help them conduct business successfully in foreign markets.
      "In addition to the commitment of our staff and the extensive domestic and international resources of the U.S. Department Commerce and U.S. Commercial Service, we work closely with trade associations, industry groups and government organizations, particularly the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) ," said Carl R. "Jake" Jacobsen, director of the Middletown Export Assistance Center.
      In fact, Jacobsen's office and the DECD offer a unique program that will fund up to 50% of the fees that qualified Connecticut firms are charged by the Commerce Department (up to a limit of $1,000 a year) to participate in certain export promotion services. "This program is unlike any other in the U.S.," said Jacobsen, "and it's intended to encourage small and medium-sized Connecticut companies to enter foreign markets using U.S. Department of Commerce export programs and services and thereby creating jobs."
      Jacobsen, a career trade professional, has served overseas as a commercial service officer in Australia, Canada, and Cameroon in West Africa, and in domestic offices in Denver and Washington, D.C. He has traveled for the Commercial Service throughout the U.S., as well as Latin America, Europe and Asia. Jacobsen's staff in the Middletown office includes Sharon Bongiovanni, senior trade specialist, and James O'Brien and Melissa Grosso, international trade specialists. Each staff member travels frequently throughout Connecticut to call on firms and partner organizations, and to participate in export-related workshops and seminars.
      Connecticut companies of all sizes may use the services offered through the Middletown EAC office. But the focus of many Commerce Department programs is on smaller companies, such as Bauer, that typically have the greatest need for them.
      Bauer's former owner and past president, Louis J. Auletta Sr., working closely with Jacobsen and his staff during the 1990s, began effectively marketing the company's maintenance and test equipment abroad. "By working with Jake and his office on trade information and leads - before I made an international sales trip and even while I was traveling - I knew exactly who to contact at Commercial Service offices abroad," he said. "The trade specialists in those offices helped me evaluate opportunities and set up meetings with foreign trade contacts."
      While the Commerce Department has many effective resources for exporters, companies still need to do their homework. "Connecticut companies should remember that they need to be proactive," said Auletta, past chairman of the CT District Export Council. "They have to seek out these resources, and use the ones most appropriate to their own business needs."
      Among the marketing resources available from the Commercial Service are country and industry market reports that help companies assess particular foreign markets. Within markets, detailed partner-matching and trade lead information is also available. For example, the International Partner Search helps U.S. companies find compatible foreign buyers or potential rep/distributors, and the Gold-Key matching service arranges face-to-face meetings for U.S. exporters who plan to travel internationally. Companies also can sell directly to foreign buyers or find potential reps/distributors by advertising in Commercial News USA, a bimonthly catalog-style export promotion magazine that reaches 400,000 readers in 145 countries.
      Other programs and services for U.S. exporters include the International Buyer Program, which brings delegations of foreign buyers to major U.S. trade shows to meet U.S. exporters, trade event calendars customized by industry, export insurance programs through the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Years of experience working with U.S. export companies helps the Middletown EAC staff match a company with the programs and services that will be most helpful.
      "Transacting business abroad is not like transacting business with a customer in another state," said Jacobsen. "Determining a product's potential in a market, developing a market plan, understanding the role of export and trade organizations, making contacts and developing potential partners, understanding/preparing documentation, choosing a freight forwarder, and deciding on credit and payment are complicated considerations that our office can help with."

     More information about U.S. Dept. of Commerce export assistance programs is available by calling the Middletown EAC at 860-638-6950 or online at www.export.gov/comm_svc