More pesos, more dollars, more yuan, more yen, more euros. Revenues to Wisconsin companies from Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and western European countries continue to increase year after year. In 2014, exports from state firms totaled a record $23.4 billion, and opportunities abound to further increase that value. In late June, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Trade Promotion Authority, which would set enhanced guidelines for domestic companies to negotiate deals with countries like Canada and Japan involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As daunting a task as selling to foreign customers might seem, businesses inexperienced in exporting don’t have to navigate the process alone. Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. boasts a litany of resources to help business owners and managers seek out new global markets and successfully increase their international presence. One segment of that assistance is through state-sponsored global trade ventures, in which Wisconsin companies take arranged trips abroad to markets in which they’re targeting customers and have the intelligence of WEDC’s international division at their fingertips. Several northeast Wisconsin firms have taken advantage of these trade missions and discovered them to be a springboard for growing customer orders in the foreign markets where their high-quality products are demanded. WEDC Chief Executive and Secretary Reed Hall said the agency has 55 contracted representatives available worldwide to assist state businesses conducting commerce in stable, emerging economies where more and more citizens are progressing into the middle class, affording them the luxury to purchase goods and services beyond the daily necessities of merely surviving. These state supported global trade representatives help conduct market analyses, make connections with key personnel at foreign-owned companies, and guide Wisconsin exporters through often confusing and complex international commerce regulations. “They’re instrumental in the efficiency (Wisconsin firms) are able to achieve,” Hall said of such business expeditions abroad.
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Gaining visibility in China
When Miller Electric Mfg. Co. of Appleton learned Gov. Scott Walker would be leading a trade mission to China in April 2013, the company aimed to capitalize on the opportunity. The manufacturer of high-tech welding systems had already made an agreement with a Shanghai automotive manufacturer
By the Numbers $23.4 billion
the total value of exports from Wisconsin companies during 2014, a record high
the estimated number of companies in the state doing some business outside the U.S.
the number of trade representatives contracted by the state around the globe to assist Wisconsin businesses in foreign markets
the value of foreign sales of Wisconsin-made industrial machinery during 2014, representing 27 percent of all Wisconsin exports and by far the largest product segment
the value of Wisconsin exports to the United Kingdom in 2014, representing a 25 percent increase above 2013 sales and moving the U.K. into the state’s top five export destinations
8,500 55
$6.4 billion
$848 million
Source: Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
NNB2B | July 2015 | 17