SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CenterState CEO will use a $40,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) to establish an export catalyst pilot program. The program will target the region’s middle-market businesses, according to a news release from CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for the 12-county region. The program will match […]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CenterState CEO will use a $40,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) to establish an export catalyst pilot program.
The program will target the region’s middle-market businesses, according to a news release from CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for the 12-county region.
The program will match export specialists with area companies to provide analysis and support for export growth.
Through mentoring and one-on-one skills training, company staff will “gain the knowledge and experience they need to continue to grow internationally,” CenterState CEO contends.
“Too often, middle-market companies face multiple barriers to growing their business internationally,” Bill Dehmer, managing director and market president for JPMorgan Chase, said in the CenterState CEO release. “Our support for CenterState CEO is one more way we are helping Central New York businesses successfully navigate a complex global marketplace.”
The export catalyst pilot program “builds” on the work CenterState CEO and its partners started through the CenterState metropolitan-export initiative, developed as part of the global-cities initiative, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase, “further advancing its joint global-trade strategy,” the release stated.
“For the last three years we have worked with businesses throughout the region, engaging them in global opportunities and are beginning to see results,” Robert Simpson, president of CenterState CEO, said. “We are grateful to JPMorgan Chase and the Brookings Institution for their continued support as we advance our strategies and goals to increase the number of businesses that are exporting. Through this program we will be well positioned to leverage global opportunities to create a more sustainable and productive economy.”
How it will work
The pilot program will match four to six companies with export specialists to provide market identification and assessment, entry requirements, and buyer-identification services.
The goal is to “catalyze export growth for companies that have a globally competitive product but lack experience or capacity for international sales,” according to the release.
The Central New York International Business Alliance (CNYIBA) will also work with businesses to help them “establish and grow their international sales.”
The total cost of the export catalyst pilot program is $52,000, and CenterState and the CNYIBA are contributing the other $12,000 not provided by JPMorgan Chase, according to a CenterState CEO spokeswoman.
“Fundamental to the expansion of sales outside our borders is a knowledge base to construct a successful road map to permit businesses in our community to flourish in the global marketplace,” Alan Fink, president of the CNYIBA, said in the CenterState CEO release. “The export catalyst pilot program brings to Central New York an exceptional opportunity for companies participating to gain a … resource to assist with the right choices for expansion of their international sales network and strategies for new market entry. Export sales do account for significant revenues for companies here locally and efforts of this kind will pave way to allow more Central New York companies to profit similarly.”
Following the pilot program, CenterState CEO plans to expand and create a permanent program to “ensure continued growth” for middle-market companies in the area.
