Young entrepreneurs-in-the-making like Gateway Community College’s Faiza Malik well might find entre to far-flung international markets close to home thanks to some help announced Monday from the U.S. Commerce Department.
The department opened up a new Export Assistance Center right on the future fashion designer’s campus.
Why Gateway? “We need to be where the excitement is and the young entrepreneurs,” said Commerce’s Anne Evans, at a reception attended by 100 people, local business folks as well as students like Malik.
The new office will add to Gateway’s Small Business Center (SBC), a counseling service for young businesses from senior executives, and Gateway’s already internationally-focussed economics and business classes.
Some six years ago U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro helped Gateway’s president, Dorsey Kendrick (flanking Malik on the left in photo, with Gateway’s coordinator of entrepreneurial studies Professor Rose Bednarz-Luglio) set up the SBC, which is part of the federal government’s Small Business Administration. When it came time to pick an area office for this new export-focused effort, which is designed to capitalize on local entrepreneurial talent and a weak dollar (making exports easier), DeLauro again helped make the marriage. She was to be at the event to mark the opening Monday, but was called to Washington for a hearing — speaking of economics — with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
“So many of our students,” said Kendrick, “already work at businesses in the area. They take courses here and now with this center, they can say to their employer, ‘Hey, if we’ve got something that might sell overseas, now I can show you a place where they’ll tell us how.’”
Kendrick proudly announced that the student body has achieved record levels, with 6,500 people taking credit courses and another 3,500 in non-credit continuing education, many in business. She said the new office involves no new grants or money. “It’s about leverage, about doing great things with the resources we have so our students can advance in their professional lives.”
According to Melissa Grosso, who’s going to be the Commerce Department official stationed at the college, the services provided will include: deciding if a product really is right for export; where the best market is; finding an overseas partner; assistance with certifications and markings and local regulations; performing the due diligence regarding the partner business; and lobbying.
There are five other export assistance centers in the state. So the Commerce Department whose state headquarters is in Middletown, can now proudly boast its new signature line; “Export assistance never more than 20 minutes from you.”
A $3 Million Dollar Deal Already
As the meeting was getting underway, Evans (pictured on the left, with David Cooper, Gateway’s dean of corporate and continuing education), fielded a call of an unfolding success story. The manufacturer of a fuel-efficient catalyst appropriate for diesel engines, whom she’d met in Torrington in May, was put in touch by her office with a potential buyer in India.
“Now,” said Evans, “he just called to say that he signed a $3 million dollar contract, and three more possible contracts or on the way. If the others come through, he’ll consolidate his subcontractors in Torrington, and create more jobs there.”
Maybe New Haven success stories are on the way too. Anne Evans noted they are already working with the many Peruvians in the area (an astonishing 30,000, she said, in the state). And they have yet to discover the Ecuadorians!
The contact for the export office is melissa.grosso@mail.doc.gov. For the full range of programs and courses at Gateway on international business, email here.
According to Lou Mangina, of DeLauro’s office, Connecticut is building on export momentum: $13.8 billion in 2007, which is up $5.7 billion since 2003.