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2010-2011


April 28,2010: Area Businesses Receive Stateline World Trade Award

The DeLong Co., Inc., of Clinton, WI and Furst-McNess Company, of Eleroy, IL will receive awards for their exporting expertise at the Stateline World Trade Association (SLWTA) dinner meeting on Thursday evening, April 28, 2010 at the Beloit Inn.   

The DeLong Co., Inc. is a fifth generation family-owned agricultural business. It was started over 100 years ago, and serves the farming industry. The firm operates 15 locations in three states, supplying fertilizers and feeds and also storing and exporting feed and grains. In the mid-1980's, the DeLong Co. was an innovator in identity preserved crops by loading ocean-going containers with Wisconsin-grown soybeans here in the state, rather than shipping in bulk down the Mississippi River. In 2004, the company began loading commercial corn, soybeans, and feed products for export in containers, competing directly against bulk vessels. Over the past three years, the DeLong Co. has exported over $2 billion of agricultural products.

Furst-McNess Company has recently expanded into the export industry. McNess focuses on the containerized exports of DDGS (Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles) and other feedstuffs to SE Asia.  With no prior experience, McNess created their export and container filling programs from nothing.  Everything from the accounting methods down to the design of the very equipment utilized to load the containers was created in one year. While this was being done McNess also broke into existing commodity markets as well as new markets (China) while competing with larger companies.  McNess was able to profitably merchandise over 110,000 metric tons of product from the Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin regions.

Join the SLWTA to hear these success stories, and congratulate the World Trade Award Winners. A Special Guest, William MacFarlane of MacFarlane's Pheasants, winner of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Small Business Exporter of the Year Award will be attending.


March 25,2010: Dr. Chris Kuehl Economic Forecasting with a Twist of Humor


The Stateline World Trade Association (SLWTA) welcomes Dr. Chris Kuehl to its March 25, 2010 dinner meeting held at The Beloit Inn, 500 Pleasant St., Beloit, WI at 5:30 p.m.


Dr. Kuehl’s presentation will give an informed context for strategic global business planning with an understanding of the current status of global economic recovery and projections for the near future. Attendees will take away the ability to think about and develop strategic global business plans. Dr. Kuehl will convey the complexities of the global economy in terms everyone can comprehend. He combines an economist’s training with a comedian’s off-beat sense of reality. As a corporate intelligence strategist Dr. Kuehl sees the big picture and understands the details of how to move forward in global markets and ride out the waves of economic turbulence.



Dr. Kuehl is co-founder and Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, which combines corporate and competitive intelligence with strategic and tactical planning for clients such as YRC Worldwide, KPMG, TranSystems and Americo Insurance. Dr. Kuehl is also editor and publisher of the Business Intelligence Brief, distributed by Chambers of Commerce, business organizations, and trade centers in the U.S. and throughout the world. He is the Chief Economist for the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association.



As a professor of international finance and economics, he has held visiting faculty posts in Estonia, Hungary, Russia, Singapore, and Taiwan. He holds a Ph.D. in political economics, and Masters Degrees in East Asian studies, and in Soviet and East European studies.


February 25, 2010: Foreign Trade Zones with Marge Bevers   


Beloit, WI - The Stateline World Trade Association (SLWTA) welcomes Marge Bevers, Greater Rockford Airport Authority, Foreign Trade Zone Administrator & Properties Specialist to its Thursday February 25, 2010 dinner meeting held at The Beloit Inn, 500 Pleasant St., at 5:30 p.m.   Her presentation will focus on the Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) program and how it can impact company profitability. It will also address:

  • Challenges to the FTZ program amid a "protectionist" mood in Washington
  • Expedited application process: faster and cheaper to the bottom line
  • Update on RFD cargo news amid price increases at ORD - International Cargo Building
Marge has served as FTZ Administrator for four years, supporting growth in FTZ activity and the addition of FTZ sites and subzones.   In November 2009, she submitted an application to expand the service territory to include all or part of 9 counties (Boone, Bureau, DeKalb, Kane, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago).   With a new subzone set to activate in early 2010 and other prospects close behind, growth should accelerate in coming years.  

The Greater Rockford Airport Authority serves as Grantee (administrator) of FTZ #176 co-located with the Rockford Customs & Border Protection at the Chicago-Rockford International Airport. Presently nearly $200 million in foreign merchandise moves through FTZ # 176 zone sites/subzones annually.

January 28, 2010: Afternoon Import and Evening Export Compliance Programs with
 John Goodrich author of 6 books on Import/Export Compliance.


This program will be informative and educational if you are experienced in international trade or if you are considering going international for the first time. Recently enacted regulations your company needs to know about will be covered in depth. Starting 26 Jan 2010, there will be a $5,000 per infraction fine will be imposed for non-compliance on new rules. Find out which rules.
 
Globalization is a fact of life in 21st century America. Three quarters of the world’s spending power and 96 percent of its people live outside the United States. This represents a huge potential market for U.S. producers in general and hundreds of thousands of American small businesses in particular.
 
Afternoon Seminar:
Import Trade Compliance:
1.     The regulatory environment

2.     Core Competencies in Trade Compliance

3.     An overview of the Customs Entry Process

4.    Customs Enforcement

5.    Current Issues Import Trade Compliance



Dinner Program:

Export Trade Compliance:

1.      Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR)

2.      Export Administration Regulations (EAR)

3.      International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR): Applies even if you do not ship weapons

John Goodrich is an International Trade Consultant and Licensed Customhouse Broker with more than twenty-five years of experience in international trade. He is currently the principal in the consulting firm of JD Goodrich & Associates (JDGA) Founded in 2001 JDGA specializes in assisting clients with import/export logistics and regulatory compliance issues.

November 19, 2009: Michael Hetzel – Global Manufacturing: Myth, Reality & Strategic Options

The Stateline World Trade Association (SLWTA) welcomes Michael Hetzel to its November 19, 2009 dinner meeting, held at The Beloit Inn, 500 Pleasant St. Michael will be speaking on the current reality of global manufacturing including data and context surrounding the U.S., China, India, and other nations.

Michael’s presentation will include the recent history and forward trends that can either benefit or challenge your company's successful navigation of the global competitive landscape, Information that explains how the various print, radio, and TV media, along with virtually all politicians, are misleading you and other U.S. manufacturers, Sources of accurate global trade information that you can access for yourself, anytime and at no cost, in order to create effective manufacturing strategies., and it will include a close look at the strategies of successful U.S. small and midsize manufacturers selected from over 50 case studies, so you don't have to "reinvent the wheel" in order to realign your company for success going forward.

Michael is Vice President at Pro QC International, a Taipei based quality and engineering services firm with operations in 30 countries. As President of Northern Galaxy Corporation, he engages in international strategic consulting and transactional projects with manufacturers and life science researchers and companies. Michael is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank Chicago District Industrial Roundtable and serves as a director on several corporate boards. He regularly speaks and publishes articles on the subjects of global manufacturing, quality control and trade.

October 22, 2009: Mona Pearl, Global Expansion – Getting It Right the First Time

Beloit, WI - The Stateline World Trade Association (SLWTA) welcomes Mona Pearl to its October 22, 2009 dinner meeting, held at The Beloit Inn, 500 Pleasant St. Mona Pearl will be speaking on expanding your business into the global market.

“Many U.S. Companies still consider going global an option. It’s not. Ready or not, almost every U.S. company is already competing with a foreign enterprise right here on U.S. soil. Now is the time to get started. Focus on the opportunities not the obstacles.” (Mona Pearl, Global Expansion, Don’t Discount the Data)

Mona Pearl’s experience in international strategic development and global entrepreneurship has been vital in helping companies design and execute their global strategies.  Ms. Pearl is known for her out of the box thinking and developing creative solutions to tough challenges which produce bottom line results.

Ms. Pearl has founded and operated three successful businesses.  From operations to organization to top line growth strategies, Ms. Pearl initiated and executed cost effective and creative opportunities for companies to make money.  Since 1993, she has helped companies increase global market share, enhance leadership and engage the stakeholders along the value chain.  These activities led to companies growing their business across-borders, leveraging their global competitiveness and addressing diversity and cross-cultural issues in international markets.  

September 24, 2009:Eurasian Business Opportunities with Former Ambassador Graber

Richard W. Graber is a shareholder in Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren Attorneys at Law Business Law and International Practices. Rick draws his clients from a variety of industries including paper manufacturing, automotive, lighting, transportation, media, publishing, petroleum, moving and storage, financial institutions and higher education.

After serving as president and chief executive officer of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren from 2004 to 2006, Rick left the firm to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic. He returned to the firm in 2009. Rick uses his many relationships and experiences to help Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren's domestic clients doing business in Europe, and to assist European companies that are doing business in the United States.

Rick is a frequent speaker on legal and political issues. He has spoken extensively on issues related to election reform and is a regular commentator on radio and television, including CNN and the Larry King Show. Rick served as chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin from 1999 until 2006. He is a member of the Council of American Ambassadors.

Representative Matters and Experience

Representing a transportation client who had lost a government contract that it had maintained for 40 years, Rick was able to ensure that the contract was rebid and, as a result, his client was awarded the government work. Enabling the state's two medical colleges to receive extensive funding from Blue Cross/Blue Shield by strategizing with the colleges and state officials to broker a fertile organizational environment for the funds. Acting as a lead lawyer on the State of Wisconsin redistricting legislation

Resolving a complex shareholder dispute, enabling one shareholder to be bought out and creating the opportunity for the remaining shareholders to pursue a profitable new business direction.