State Of The Union For businesses seeking foreign partners with strong economies and fluid trade, the EU may be the place.

While people from Rome to London are bragging about the growingeconomic clout of the European Union (EU), U.S. entrepreneurs aredoing some boasting of their own. Why? European unity translatesinto opportunities for Yanks as well.

"The fact that EU countries are working more closelytogether means the market is going to get bigger," says JanOffner, director of business development at the Dallas branch ofthe Flanders Foreign Investment Office (FFIO), an organizationmaintained by the Belgian state of Flanders to attract foreigntrade. "This is good news for everybody."

Phil Combs, a specialist with the Trade Information Center atthe U.S. Department of Commerce, predicts the market will be betteras well. "It's making it easier for U.S. entrepreneurs todo business [in Europe]," he says. "They're able tobe more efficient because they're dealing with more centralizedtrade practices and a common currency."

Before you rush off to set up shop in the 15-member EU, however,consider these suggestions:

1. Work with a government affiliate. Twosmall Florida companies, Tampa-based Romark Laboratories LC andBionucleonics Inc. in Miami, used FFIO to accomplish differentmissions. Bionucleonics wanted to find a European university thatcould provide it with a research grant and a partner, while Romarksought a research site. Locating cash and contacts are whatgovernment organizations like FFIO do best.

"FFIO helped introduce us to people in the Flanders regionwho offered us all kinds of incentives to put a research facilitythere," says Romark president Marc Ayers, whose company hadalready been operating two sites in Flanders to manufacturechemical ingredients used in its pharmaceuticals.

Offner says the EU and its member nations commonly providegrants of up to 30 percent of start-up costs, especially if youopen a facility in a European Development Zone, areas the EU istrying to bolster.

Bionucleonics president Dr. Stanley Satz, meanwhile, signed up apremier university as a research partner. "We knew the Belgianbusiness climate was wonderful," says Satz, the majority ownerin the $10 million company that develops and supplies radioisotopes for the health sciences. "But we were also looking toother countries for a partner. When FFIO turned up the Universityof Leuven, we chose Belgium."

2. Look for partnerships. "If youdon't have a European presence, you need to find a goodpartner," Offner says. "Ideally, you should offer somekind of technology that gives you leverage to deal with the bigguys. You can say, `Look, I have this goodie you can use, and I canbenefit from your distribution.' "

3. Consider using a third party to manufacture yourproduct. Licensing the production of your goods to a localcompany can save you a lot of headaches. "Americans are comingfrom markets where everything is the same," Offner says,"and they get annoyed when they find the Germans want a boltscrewed on one way, and the Dutch want something else."

4. Contract multilingual people. Europe isobviously still a land of many languages, and you need people whoknow the lingo. Says Offner, "It's a lot easier forsomeone with language skills [to learn about] your business than itis for someone from your company to learn the language."

Christopher D. Lancette is a journalist in Atlanta who coversinternational topics for Hispanic Business and otherpublications.

Next Step

• Austrian Business Agency, 011-431-588- 580, http://www.aba.gv.at

• Flanders Foreign Investment Office, (972) 887-9933, http://www.ffio.com

• Invest In Britain Bureau, 011-44-171-215- 2501, http://www.dti.gov.uk/ibb

Contact Sources

Bionucleonics Inc., (305) 576-0996, bionucmed@aol.com

Romark Laboratories LC, 6200 Courtney Campbell Causeway,#880, Tampa, FL 33607, romarklabs@aol.com

Trade Information Center, (800) USA-TRADE