“If Americans want to plan on driving their grandchildren to tennis lessons in Hummers, they had better be smarter than the rest of the world, because the rest of the world is working harder and longer than we are.” -- James McGregor, author of Three Billion New Consumers

Miller Global Business Center Offers International Business Education

After 30 years on the government end of international trade, Stanley K. Rees is taking those decades of experience to the front of the class.

As a teacher and a director in the Miller Global Business Center at Salt Lake Community College, Rees is equipping Utah businesses with the know-how to break into foreign markets.

“We look at it as being Utah’s international business education connection,” says Rees, the director of the Global Business Center who came to SLCC from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Export Assistance Center.

While the Miller Global Business Center offers one-on-one help and counseling to Utah companies looking to enter overseas markets, the biggest part of trade education comes via a global business course offered to students, entrepreneurs, staff and executives.

Those global-focused men and women take a 30-hour course at the SLCC Miller Business Innovation Center in Sandy learn the ins and outs of foreign trade. The Executive Certificate of Global Business Management covers topics ranging from trade finance to export readiness in a 10-week course. The course will offer its third semester this fall and is open to any company wanting to train employees or managers on international business practices.

Students in the course get a comprehensive overview of the global marketplace and how their business can benefit from world trade.

“To be really competitive, we really need to go international and be involved in global business,” Rees says. “One thing to realize is that our foreign competitors are going to be here taking a share of our market. They should be prepared and capable to go over there and take a share of that market. We want to prepare them for that.”

The course also brings in industry experts on finance, trade strategies, shipping, documentation and legal issues. One past student, for example, was able to save $500,000 for his business in Canada by using a certificate of origin he hadn’t known about in the past. Another student reported that the class discussion on international marketing was exactly what his start-up company needed.

Students also delve into cultural issues that may impact their foreign market foray.

“In diverse markets, handshakes don’t always mean the same thing,” Rees says. “There’s always those little blunders because we as Americans think everybody understands things the way we do.”

In addition to the Executive program, the Miller Global Business Center also guides Utah companies into the international marketplace. Business leaders have access to expertise and logistical advice from the Center to develop an export strategy, create a market analysis and perform an export readiness assessment.

“We (Utah companies) export over $7 billion a year. We have a lot of good interest in international trade and it’s just a matter of doing it the right way,” Rees says. “Utah companies are doing quite well, we just want to say, ‘Here are all the resources,’ and help them get to the right people.”

The Global Business Center also works to bring foreign companies to Utah, offering a soft landing incubator program. Small international companies looking to relocate to the state can find a temporary base of operations through the program. After a year or two, those companies move out on their own.

“If they’re successful, they would hire Utah people to run their offices,” Rees says. “It offers employment growth for the state.”

The SLCC program also helps those foreign businesses navigate through the U.S. market with translation services, import/export laws and immigration assistance.

Country: Norway

Norwegians are transactional and do not need long-standing personal relationships in order to conduct business. Nonetheless, they prefer to do business with those they trust, so it is important that you provide information about yourself and the company you represent prior to meeting your business colleagues. Relationships develop slowly and depend upon the other person being professional and meeting all agreed upon deadlines. Giving a well-researched presentation indicates that you are serious about conducting business. The basic business style is relatively informal. Norwegians respect confident, self-assured businesspeople. Read more...

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The European Union overtook the United States in 2005 as the leading exporter of agricultural products, and retained the top position in 2006. The U.S., which has experienced below world average performance for the last five years, increased its exports by 12 percent. Exports of China and Brazil expanded by the same rate (13 percent) in 2006. Canadian and Australian growth was relatively modest (7 per cent and 5 per cent respectively). Source: World Trade Organization

The Global Utah newsletter is published as a service of World Trade Center Utah by Exoro International.

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