May 28, 2015
SVSU Hosting Export Workshops for Regional Manufacturers
Saginaw Valley State University is offering specialized workshops to assist manufacturing companies seeking to begin exporting their products or to expand their export operations. SVSU’s Center for Business and Economic Development will serve as the regional site for ExporTech, a program offered through the National Institute of Standards & Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership network.
Participants will complete three full-day sessions during a three-month period during the summer and/or fall months. Dates will be selected once participants are confirmed. Business representatives will connect to a wide range of experts and receive a dedicated industry coach that will help them navigate the export sales process to aid in rapidly expanding global sales.
Upon completion of the program, each company will have developed an actionable, written export plan that is vetted by a panel of experts. Past experts have included:
• Brent Case, global development executive, T.O.C. Logistics
• Laura Deierlein, international trade manager for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation
• Eve Lerman, senior international trade specialist with the U.S. Department of Commerce
• Jim Miller, executive director of production control and logistics for Nexteer Automotive
• Chris Shirk, manufacturing and supply chain manager for Dow Corning
Eight businesses completed a similar program earlier this year. Each company streamlined targeted growth to an average of three specific foreign markets and is expecting to see results within the next 12 months. Combined, these companies have annual sales in excess of $55 million and have more than 200 Michigan employees.
In Michigan, the ExporTech program is a collaborative effort of the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the U.S. Export Assistance Centers of the U.S. Department of Commerce. SVSU is the host for Michigan’s central region of the Regional Export Network.
Tuition for the program is $3,000. For more information, contact Harry Leaver, executive director of SVSU’s Center for Business and Economic Development, at 989-964-4047 or hlleaver@svsu.edu.