World Trading
Need a global network? Give this veteran a try.
Business owners are constantly bombarded by pitches for trade
groups and hot new Web sites that promise to improve their
international sales. But if you need a resource that has withstood
the test of time, you should take a gander at the World Trade
Centers Association (WTCA).
Jen O'Conner, director of Brooklyn Goes Global (BGG), the
international division of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce in New
York City, says the WTCA has been the most valuable network BGG has
worked with. "The WTCA has given us a phenomenal number of
overseas buyers interested in what Brooklyn businesses have to
sell," she says.
O'Conner says the vast majority of the 1,200 sales proposals
BGG sent out last year on behalf of Brooklyn manufacturers (90 to
95 percent of whom are entrepreneurs) came from leads generated by
the WTCA. The nonprofit, nonpolitical association, which focuses on
global trade, provides services in 337 cities in 101 countries
worldwide. Among its dazzling array of tools: facilities that can
be used to host meetings, and a gamut of business services such as
videoconferencing, an active trade-lead operation, market research
and group trade missions. Herbert Ouida, WTCA's executive vice
president, describes the organization as one-stop shopping for the
nearly 500,000 companies affiliated with it worldwide.
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Classic Clothing Inc. founder and owner Shawn Korenman found
himself on the fast track when a potential buyer in Thailand found
an ad for his company on the WTCA Web site. "He came over here
and spent $40,000 on his first order," says Korenman, 26,
whose New York City company sells about $300,000 worth of recycled
jeans, bags and shorts a year to U.S. and international
clients.
For more information, visit http://www.wtca.org
Christopher D. Lancette is an Atlanta journalist who covers
international topics for Hispanic Business and other
publications.
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