All overseas edge.

• Author: GEORGE, MARY
• Position: Denver and Colorado's Departments of Economic Development and International Trade - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

TRADE MISSIONS OPEN FOREIGN DOORS FOR COLORADO COMPANIES

To U.S. COMPANIES AND EXECUTIVES WATCHING THE CLOUDS GATHER OVER a once-sunny domestic economy now might seem like the perfect time to expand overseas. Other Countries don't always look favorably upon the idea, though. Perhaps they've seen too many U.S. companies come in and set up shop, only to pack up and leave when economic conditions back home improve. Perhaps these countries simply require a period of cultural courtship.

Fortunately for Colorado businesses, two local government agencies have been doing some of the work to help business newcomers hit foreign soil running.

The State of Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade estimates it had a hand in helping Colorado companies do more than $600 million in overseas business in 2001. That's about 10 percent of what the entire state exported in 2000.

The City of Denver's Office of Economic Development and International Trade is one of the nation's most active municipally run international trade offices. Denver's trade specialists are concentrating on China and Africa, markets that are the most difficult to crack but have the most long-term potential.

The two offices traffic in the same product: trade contacts, trade information and cultural essentials. Said Ron Bernstein, director of the Denver trade office: "I can't tell you how to build a microprocessor, but I can tell you how to sell it in Africa."

The two offices differ in the geographies they serve, both at home and abroad. Denver's four international trade specialists provide links for Denver companies and support offices in London and Shanghai. Two of the trade specialists are devoted to developing African connections. At the same time, the office is focused on making Denver International Airport a world-trade hub. In the past year, it helped lure German air carrier Lufthansa to provide nonstop service between Denver and Frankfurt. Now Mayor Wellington Webb is offering $1 million in marketing incentives to the first airline that sets up nonstop service between Denver and Paris.

"When you look across American cities, not a lot of mayors' offices have gone to the lengths that Webb's office has to promote international trade," said Ken Gordon, a faculty member at the University of Colorado's Graduate School of Business and Administration. Gordon specializes in trade with China and has consulted for Denver's trade office.

The state of Colorado's effort...