Doing Business Globally

All the tools are there. The people are in place. Support and encouragement are but a phone call away. Sound like a support group for lonely hearts? Well, in a way it is. The gamut of international business, while growing, is still flying somewhat solo. So why aren't more companies doing it?

For one thing, it could be lack of information. Customs, duty, tariffs, culture clashes-it is admittedly very confusing. But many companies who want to break into the international market may not know where to begin.

There's money to be made in foreign trade, for small businesses as well as large. Exports are growing faster here than the rest of the economy. Imagine the whole world as your potential customer, then imagine again getting the assistance you need to tap into that market.

Who Can Help

The State of Florida has eight field offices set up through Enterprise Florida's division of international trade. Mark Teagan is the international trade specialist in Fort Myers for Enterprise Florida, which is a non-profit partnership of government and business established to "guide the development of Florida's economy." The international trade division has their office in Miami with foreign offices in Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan and Korea.

Many offices are staffed with local workers, which avoids a language barrier. They will take a look at your company and review your products and services, and develop trade leads. Specialists can provide information on Florida's international trade market and overseas trade missions and trade shows, in addition to providing a statewide lead-dissemination program and assistance to new-to-export manufacturers.

Plenty of information is available through the Southwest Florida International Trade Club, which serves five area counties and has just expanded into Naples. John Atkins is the area representative in Naples. The association serves as a catalyst for those already doing business internationally and for any firms that are considering it. "There's a larger amount of trade being done in Collier than Lee county. And it appears to be on a less-seasonal basis," says Atkins. Therefore, the club is focusing more on Naples than they have in the past. "In my view what's notable is that we don't differentiate between import and export in our priorities."

According to Atkins, there could be up to 250 companies in the five-county area that actually ship across the border, though figures are hard to come by.

Incoming association president Scott Gregory of Oswald Trippe Insurance says members of the association, which cost $50 to join, can expect many benefits including monthly meetings at Page Field for exchanging information. The association is joining the World Trade Center in Miami, which will provide leads and other forms of support. The group is also a member of the Federation of Foreign Trade Associations, a national organization of trade associations. They swap member lists, provide trade leads, and offer seminars and educational opportunities.

Gregory, whose own company provides a full range of insurance services for import/export activities, says, "The largest obstacle of doing international business is that many companies think you need to be in Miami or Orlando, and that brokerage firms need to be on Wall Street, to capture the market. Fort Myers, which is directly between Tampa and Miami, has basically the same services for little bit of a lower cost, and it can be done fast. It's an image thing.

"By using Fort Myers as the cargo destination, shipments may arrive from, say Germany and clear customs in the warehouse of the company within a day--something you just can't do in Miami. We try to convince people that we can do it faster. We don't have the theft, we have the support people, consultants, brokers, trucking facilities," says Gregory.

Foreign Trade Zones

Gregory Dull works for the Lee County Port Authority in aviation marketing. He manages cargo at the airport as it relates to imports and exports; specifically within the area's seven foreign trade zones set up in the area.

Foreign trade zones are much talked about, but so far hardly used. They are so brand-new to our area that many companies don't understand enough about them and about what they do, which is exactly what Dull seeks to remedy.

The designation was sought about three or four years ago and received in June 1996. It is an arduous process. The zones are activated upon use. In September the use of the zone by the fuel consortium at the airport activated its foreign trade zone status.

The consortium is made up of airlines at the airport as they operate a sort of "fuel farm." It is for the international carriers (LTU, Canada 3000 and Royal) and allows them a tax savings on jet fuel. LTU is saving about 2.3 cents per gallon, which amounts to of $80,000 per year.

The Lee County Port Authority acts as "grantee" to manage the foreign trades zones. Their intent is to operate regionally, with zones at the Immokalee Airport, Charlotte County Airport, Page Field, and Viscaya Industrial Park in Cape Coral. It is not a status easily granted; there are manuals and procedures to establish, much of them having to do with accounting methods for the inventory.

Once the status is granted, there needs to be a secure and separate area set aside for a foreign trade zone. There doesn't necessarily need to be a fence around the area; a conference room can be separated with a yellow stripe to delineate the zone. Blueprints of the proposed zone are submitted. Goods that arrive must physically be stored in that area, like an island, to show it is not part of the U.S. domestic commerce. There are currently 3,500 acres set aside at Southwest Florida International Airport; 60 acres at the Immokalee airport and 60 acres at Charlotte County Airport.

Though there are 220 zones throughout the country, Florida's is the most organized. A fee of $1,000 per year is charged merely to cover costs. Remember, the goal of the zones is to create jobs, not to make a profit. Each square foot of space costs $.01, which would amount to about $5 per year on average, according to Dull.

Foreign trade zones allow companies that import to bring the products into the United States and not pay duty at all if they export them. Companies also enjoy relief from the inverted tariff rates, which gives a choice of paying the lower finished-product rate on foreign components manufactured into that product.

According to Brad Rothenberg of the Economic Development Office of Lee County, companies operating a foreign trade zone may "store, test, clean, sample, relabel, repackage, display, repair, manipulate, mix, process, assemble, manufacture, salvage, destroy and/or re-export both foreign and domestic merchandise admitted into the zone." No duty is paid on those goods until they are imported into the United States, improving a company's c