Export Success, Mentors, & More At 2019 Graduation

By: Riley Steinbock & Jewel White, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce

​Exporting is a phenomenon that is not necessarily new, but one that continues to evolve and become a crucial part of many successful businesses. Since 70% of the world’s purchasing power and 96% of consumers are outside of the United States, it makes sense that exporting can provide numerous opportunities for business. The Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, along with the Small Business Development Center, RGP of Northwest Ohio, UPS, and the University of Toledo’s College of Business and Innovation created the program Export Success which is designed to help members of the business community enter international markets by giving them tools on how to efficiently export their products. Export Success is a 10-session course that provides participants with informational sessions all about exporting by business mentors who have already successfully established an international presence. 

​This past Friday, Export Success participants graduated from the program and presented their export strategy for moving their products into international markets. Export plans were presented from companies such as Bionix, Manta Ray, R-PAS, and OBIC. 

​The participants of the program had so much to say about the value that Export Success brought to their businesses. John Drinnon, of Manta Ray, explained that the most valuable part of this program to him was that every contact that he met through Export Success was equipped with the resources, skills and knowledge to provide key tools and information to succeed internationally. While Manta Ray had already begun exporting before the program, he believes the skills and tools he learned from the program will help his company move their products into countries like Panama, Mexico, and South America. 

​Dustin Schlachter, of OBIC, also benefitted greatly from the information he learned in Export Success. He explains, “Before Export Success, we did not really have a plan. This program was the foundational building block to creating an export strategy.” Because of the resources and information given to the participants, along with the pivotal mentors who helped guide them through the exporting process, these businesses now have the ability to dive right into international markets.

​This class is highly endorsed and recommended by participating sponsors, mentors and students. Like many of our students explained, if you keep an open mind and challenge yourself to growth, there is a lot of potential to gain value and wisdom from this 10-session course. Each participant saw this opportunity as an excellent resource to help their businesses gain the knowledge and skills needed to start or expand exporting to other countries.

If you are interested in beginning the exporting process and don’t know where to start, contact Sabrina D’Onofrio to gather more information about the class at Sabrina.D'Onofrio@toledochamber.com or 419-243-8191.