Exporting – Business Beyond Colorado’s Borders

GEORGE: Yeah, yeah. She’s seeing this guy, Art Vandelay.

SUSAN: So what does he do?

GEORGE: He’s an importer-exporter.

SUSAN: What kind of problems are they having?

GEORGE: Well, he uh, he wants to uh, quit the exporting and uh, focus just on importing. And it’s a problem, she thinks the exporting is as important as the importing.

-Seinfeld, “The Cadillac (2)

Exporting is another piece of the small business puzzle that creates jobs and helps sustain Colorado business formation. Recent statistics show that around 4,459 companies export from Colorado annually.

Building a More Competitive Colorado: The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT)

Here in Colorado we have the Office of Economic Development and International Trade which sponsors several funding programs dedicated to enhancing  Colorado business LLC and S Corp initiatives.

·       The Colorado Export Development Grant (CEDG) :  Provides financial support to qualifying Colorado companies to assist them in developing new export markets.  Grantees can receive up to $4,500 to apply towards travel expenses, trade show exhibition and/or attendance, business matchmaking services or other direct expenses for developing a new target market.  Funds are available one time per year according to the grant application cycle. The last grants were awarded in Oct 2011, so the next round should be coming up. Of the 26 awarded last year, almost half were in the Denver-Boulder area.

·       Colorado Export of Innovative and Sustainable Technologies (CO-EXIST):

CO-EXist supports business exchanges between Colorado companies, government and industry leaders in China and Mexico in the targeted areas of sustainable and environmental technologies and services. Companies may apply to participate in trade shows, incoming buyer visits and outgoing trade missions, or to receive funding for client development expenses and technical assistance for Mexico and/or China.

·       Next Step Program: The Next Step Program helps qualifying Colorado companies overcome challenges to exporting their goods and/or services to prospective buyers abroad. Financial assistance is provided directly to companies to engage in the following client development activities with OEDIT’s support: B2B matchmaking services, interpretation and translation of business specific conversations and/or documents, airfare to develop commercial relationships, and lodging for the Colorado company in the target market or for the potential buyer in Colorado.

Call  (303) 892-3840 or head to the OEDIT website to learn more about these programs and how OEDIT can help your Colorado small business move forward into new markets.

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“Monk’s Diner” under CC license by VilaVelosa