From Wisco to the world: Trade missions explore doing business globally

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

June 3, 2024

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Aaron Zitzelsberger, senior director of global trade and investment with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), said more Wisconsin-based companies are recognizing a business reality – exporting is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

Simultaneously, Zitzelsberger said, Wisconsin’s exports continue to hit record levels.

In 2023, Wisconsin-based businesses sold $28 billion worth of products and services globally. That number, Zitzelsberger said, has garnered more interest from businesses of all sizes, including traditionally small- and medium-sized businesses that aren’t quite sure where to begin doing business internationally.

One tool that can assist in that, he said, is WEDC’s trade missions to countries around the world.

In 2024 and 2025, Zitzelsberger said WEDC will lead trade missions to the United Kingdom, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, China, Canada, Germany and Switzerland.

Zitzelsberger said these parallel nicely with Wisconsin’s growth in exporting.

In 2023, the top countries for Wisconsin businesses’ exports included Canada (30.2%), Mexico (15.4%), China (5.3%), Germany (3.4%) and the United Kingdom (3.2%). 

Zitzelsberger said Wisconsin businesses looking to enter the global space can participate in one or more of these programs, which include a specially-tailored introduction to each market, as well as a customized meeting schedule for each participating business.

These missions, he said, have proven to be an intensive and successful way for businesses serious about doing business internationally to learn about the opportunities.

“We know 96% of the world’s population exists outside the U.S., and small and medium businesses can look at that population as an opportunity to grow and be successful,” he said. “One of the biggest lessons we learned from COVID-19 is that single-market volatility is real.”

Considered holistically, Zitzelsberger said exporting not only creates stability and grows companies faster, but it also drives innovation, increases valuation, improves the labor pool and enables higher wages.

“We want businesses to increase their sales, which in turn can increase their ability to hire and ultimately support their home community,” he said.

Who’s a ready candidate?
By default, Zitzelsberger said many people think of manufacturing when they think of exports – but that is one sliver of the pie of opportunity for international sales.

“We are a big manufacturing state with many amazing manufacturers, but our trade missions tend to be multisector – food and beverage, manufacturing and services,” he said. “It can vary quite a bit depending on the trade mission and the strengths of a given market.”

Zitzelsberger said that is the beauty of the trade missions – “we get a lot of different types of companies.”

“Companies of all shapes, sizes and sectors can look at a trade mission and potentially be successful,” he said.

As small- and medium-size businesses seek to grow, Zitzelsberger said they may develop their domestic customer base.

The WEDC, he said, uses the Small Business Administration’s definition of small business, which is typically a business with fewer than 500 employees.

But exporting on a global scale, Zitzelsberger said, can be an important aspect of their growth as well.

“Small businesses can often have the perception exporting isn’t for them – it’s for the big guys – but it’s something small and medium businesses can do,” he said. “And we want to provide the resources they need to be successful as they develop that international strategy.”

Most of these businesses, Zitzelsberger said, are at a stage where they are export-ready, which can take several forms.

Among them, he said, is having ownership/leadership support to participate in a trade mission and to pursue exporting internationally – while at the same time recognizing the added demands international business may create and understanding international sales may require modifications to products and services tailored to specific markets, etc.

If the commitment is there, Zitzelsberger said, then a company can express interest in a trade mission to take that next step with WEDC by their side. 

“Outreach, particularly to business opportunities across the globe, is not easy,” he said. “The trade missions help to solve that challenge by helping businesses build the relationships necessary to build international sales.”

Building the groundwork

Long before the leadership or ownership of a Wisconsin-based company enrolled for a trade mission takes flight, Zitzelsberger said, there is a lot of work done behind the scenes.

This, he said, includes vast legwork by WEDC’s market development directors who meet with each business to understand their product/service offerings, determine the right market for them, set goals for the trade mission, etc.

In-country trade representatives, Zitzelsberger said, operate as extensions of the WEDC team, performing a partner search on behalf of the company – be it canvassing end years, distributors, trade groups, academic institutions, etc. as appropriate.

“It depends on what the company’s focus is,” he said. 

WEDC market development directors, Zitzelsberger said, are focused on specific areas of the world.

For example, he said, one concentrates on Asian markets whereas another focuses on Europe.

In the process, Zitzelsberger said they acquire a depth of knowledge about specific countries when it comes to exporting.

“They understand the nuances to doing business as companies go into a specific market, and the trade representatives have the specialized knowledge to work with our market development directors,” he said. “They work hand in hand to understand how a particular product will be received in a market, challenges that could arise, and the nuances that will be important for a company to understand as they move forward.”

As part of the Wisconsin delegation, Zitzelsberger said companies receive personalized market research and matchmaking services.

Additionally, WEDC manages logistics, transportation, translation and scheduling, which he said allows participants to focus on their business objectives.

“In business, developing personal relationships is fundamental to success,” he said. “Trade missions are crafted to foster these connections, offering valuable opportunities to make in-person connections in key markets.”

Zitzelsberger said businesses receive a customized schedule, as well as high-level country briefings in advance of the tour of strategically chosen markets – often participating in pre-meetings virtually so introductions in person aren’t cold calls.

“The work is customized and focused,” he said. “A lot of research goes into ensuring the meetings companies have in the market fit what they do. At each stop, the company participates in pre-arranged, customized meetings with companies whose needs or capabilities align with the business’s export objectives.”

Other exporting resources at the ready

In some cases, Zitzelsberger said participating businesses may take advantage of other complementary resources beneficial to exporting.

Among the most relevant, he said, is ExporTech™, an export acceleration program delivered in partnership with the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Manufacturing Outreach Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stout with support from WEDC. 

Zitzelsberger said its focus is on shortening a company’s “go-to-market” timeline by developing a customized international growth plan for the company’s products in key markets.

Companies attend three full-day events over several months alongside a cohort of up to eight non-competitive companies.

“This program can help to determine a company’s readiness, as well as ready them for a trade mission or simply to enter an international market,” he said. “It takes them through the A to Z of exporting and demystifies the process for them.”

Another complementary resource, Zitzelsberger said, is the International Market Access Grant through WEDC.

Wisconsin companies, he said, can be reimbursed for specific expenses associated with an export project that will help to grow their presence in an international market.

This grant program, Zitzelsberger said, is tiered to provide a base amount of support (up to $10,000 per annual application, limited to three total grants per company), with a higher level of support (up to $25,000 per annual application, limited to six total grants per company) available for companies that have completed ExporTech.

“We work incredibly with partners around the state and nationally,” he said. “If we don’t have the answers through our Global Trade and Investment team, we know people who do.”

Trade mission case study: Forward Health Group, Inc.

Last September, Michael H. Barbouche, founder and CEO of Forward Health Group, Inc. said he journeyed to the Netherlands and Belgium to explore opportunities to extend the reach of his Madison-based healthcare software company.

“We are in the healthcare analytics space and focus on business intelligence and analytics, working with all the stakeholders in health care,” Barbouche said. “We look at clinical, financial and operational items that resonate for (an industry) experiencing a lot right now – there are a lot of forces impacting this segment of our economy.”

Until last fall, Barbouche said the company’s reach was national – focusing on addressing a variety of healthcare industry challenges throughout the country.

He said he realized, however, that none of the challenges Forward Health Group addresses are limited to the United States.

Barbouche said European countries had reached out over the past eight to nine years with interest in securing Forward Health Group’s services, and he was ready to explore international opportunities.

“I sensed we could help and make an impact, but we had never done anything internationally,” he said. “I was feeling around in the dark before I stumbled upon WEDC and was amazed there was a way for us to get started and a whole new understanding of what they could do.”

Barbouche said that included participating in an upcoming trade mission – which he describes as one of the most organized, orchestrated business events he has ever participated in. 

“The finesse, orchestration and coordination were unbelievable,” he said. “I flew out on a Friday and hit the ground running on a Sunday and had a full sprint through the following Friday.”

Barbouche said he was a bit starstruck to attend meetings in ambassadors’ residences and meeting halls alongside Wisconsin and U.S. government officials and trade representatives and be asked to present to them.

Barbouche said the meeting hosted in Brussels included European-wide trade representatives – including from Germany and other countries he saw as potential areas of opportunity for his company’s growth.

“There was a ‘let us help you’ approach with (these representatives) giving me their cards and telling me to contact them if I get stuck,” he said. “It changed my awareness. I was not at all prepared for how real-time and near-term those resources are to support company growth. It was confidence-building and dramatically helped us think through our strategy.”

Since the trade mission, Barbouche said Forward Health Group has done the groundwork required from a technology/information technology/data security contract to prepare for signing its first international contract. 

He said he admits to landing overseas without grasping the immense opportunities the trade mission would reveal.

“I didn’t expect to see the entire European delegation, and it wasn’t ceremonial,” he said. “You’re the one explaining to trade officials what your company does and why it would be helpful in that market. How lucky are we as a company to learn this was available and take advantage of it?”

For more details on WEDC’s 2024-25 trade mission destinations and dates, visit wedc.org.