Utah's export programs: an untapped resource.

• Author: Horowitz, Alan S.
• Position: State government export assistance programs

UTAH'S EXPORT PROGRAMS

With faxes and telephones, business is now conducted 24 hours a day. Europe in 1992 will become a gigantic single market, larger than the United States. The wealthiest countries, such as Japan, Germany, and Taiwan, all have well-developed export industries.

These factors have motivated Utah's state government to improve the state's overseas performance. It is working hard in this area and now has resources that can be highly valuable to local firms willing to take a chance overseas. Hundreds, even thousands, of Utah companies could benefit from the state's export assistance, yet many don't

Here are several ways local firms can increase their visibility and profit potential in the international business arena, at little or no cost, with a little help from the state.

Overseas Offices

Among the state's most effective services are its overseas representative offices, located in Belgium, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Associated offices, which function much like the representative offices, are in Mexico, the Middle East, and the Netherlands.

These overseas offices provide a number of services. They can help a firm analyze its product or service and recommend whether the firm has a good chance of succeeding in foreign markets. They help match the firm and what it's

selling with the most receptive markets.

"We assess the viability of a product or service," says Stan Parrish, executive director of the Department of Community and Economic Development.

The offices also know their local markets, making them adept at identifying contacts likely to work well with Utah firms. No longer does a local businessperson have to fly to a foreign country and hope to meet the right people. Utah's representatives can make the proper introductions.

"These offices are matchmakers," notes Dan Mabey, the state's director of international business development.

Parrish says it's more common in foreign markets for governments to get involved with business transactions than in the United States. Having a government agency, like the state's community and economic development department, working on one's behalf provides credibility and access to people and organizations that would be difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate on one's own. Most services of the overseas offices are free.

Mabey invites local firms to come to his office first, rather than go directly to the overseas offices. His team of experts act as a clearinghouse to help business owners...