GLOBAL REACH.

• Author: PETERSON, ERIC
• Position: World Trade Center Denver trains companies on international trade

WTC DENVER OPENS GATE TO WORLD TRADE

As a law student at the University of Denver in the late 1990s, Stephen Jackamore's goal was to start a career in international business. Globalization was happening all around him, and he felt he was missing out. He had ideas, such as exporting cigars to Japan, but he said he faced one big stumbling block: "1 didn't know how to do it." Then he stumbled across the World Trade Center Denver. It offered a course, "a basic road map of how to do international business," that led to a certificate in international trade, a credential that recognized a more practical than academic approach to international trade. "It really fills in all the blanks as to what the issues are," said Jackamore. In 1998, after finishing the program, Jackamore founded Global Marketing Solutions LLC, a Denver export consultancy "Now; having practiced for a couple of years, I realize they knew what they were talking about," he said about the World Trade Center. "I would recommend it to anyone."

In Colorado, international trade has been on the rise for the past decade, but entering international markets is still regarded as something of a black art. Trade policies domestically and around the world ride changing political tides. International packaging requirements often don't match their domestic counterparts, and making a sale in a foreign country usually doesn't happen overnight. The World Trade Center Denver helps companies learn the ins and outs of the global economy, and it's collecting rave reviews in the process.

Getting started in exports, says Jim Reis, president and chief executive officer of WTC Denver since 1990, is not as simple as pronouncing, "Poof! you're international."

"Small-and medium-sized companies that want to play a role in the global marketplace need access to resources and tools that can help," he said. "Bigger companies can pretty much do it on their own ... but the small- and medium-sized companies can't." WTC Denver's goal has always been to help fill those companies' needs.

The center offers an educational curriculum, relevant research tools and services -- via the Web and its trade library -- plus numerous networking opportunities, including monthly after-hours meetings and an annual "World Trade Day" Annual membership fees range from $250 to $5,000 (depending on the size of the organization), and open a door to many pre-paid services and discounts. Yet the center and its services are available to members...