The Mission is to promote the development of international trade and investment throughout Northeastern Wisconsin by providing the business community a broad and comprehensive range of programs, services and information to enable them to successfully enter, or to enhance an existing position in the global marketplace.  One of the primary activities engaged in by the program is to provide counseling and assistance services, on a no fee basis, to those small-to-medium sized companies throughout the region who are interested in expanding their business to international markets. These services can initially be divided into three broad categories: International Market Research; Commercial Assistance Services; and Networking Opportunities.

International Market Research would be such activities as: Product or market specific viability analysis; market needs evaluation; export marketing plan development; benchmark pricing information; competitor information; and distributor identification and pre-qualification. Overall these services attempt to assist the small-to-medium businesses identify, to varying degrees of specificity, the best potential global markets for their individual products or services.

Commercial Assistance Services area provides assistance and referral activity for the complete range of activities involved in the conduct of global commercial transactions including: translation and interpretation requirements; cultural awareness and business protocol information; export documentation; freight forwarding and customs specialists; INCO payment terms and conditions; international banking services; global financing sources; international legal, insurance, and taxation issues.

Networking Opportunities.  Since a large number of the program’s constituent companies may not possess sufficient human or financial resources to adequately participate in traditional international networking events (i.e. trade shows) held in locations a substantial distance from the region, through it’s networking category, the program attempts to bring relevant opportunities to the immediate area thereby increasing the ability of local companies to fully participate in opportunities directly related to increasing exports. Included in this broad category are such efforts as: conducting international seminars and workshops; hosting representatives of foreign consular offices and embassies; arranging outbound and facilitating inbound trade missions; developing strategic overseas relationships; and making available an array of international publications and electronic media.

For additional information on services offered through the Consortium, contact Joe Reitemeier at 921-9500