AVONDALE, LA – Louisiana was recently ranked as a Top 10 Export Leader in the Nation by Business Facilities Magazine. In 2015, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranked Louisiana No. 1 in the USA for Export Growth. Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission (JEDCO) reps said Louisiana is ideally positioned to expand businesses on a global scale.
As part of the 2016 Prosper Jefferson seminar, JEDCO and the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce are presenting a seminar focused on basic information and strategies to help sell your products abroad on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the JEDCO Conference Center, 701A Churchill Parkway, in Avondale, LA, from 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Topics will include:
• How to market your company to overseas buyers
• Exporting logistics and customs- Know your paperwork
• Distribution or B2B exporting options- Which is right for you
• Intellectual Property Rights issues to be aware of when exporting
• Culture of buyers in the Middle East- What drives orders
• How to survive and thrive in the export business
• The benefits of working with the U.S. Commercial Service New Orleans
The event is free and open to the public.
Speakers will include:
• John Henry Jackson, U.S. Commercial Service New Orleans
John Henry Jackson joined the U.S. Commercial Service New Orleans office in November 2015 as the lead specialist to promote international opportunities for Louisiana's oil & gas sector. He is also assigned as primary client manager to Southwest Louisiana across multiple industry sectors. Since his arrival, Jackson has worked with exporters and economic developers from Monroe, Shreveport and Alexandria to Lake Charles, Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Previously, Jackson spent nine years at the Mississippi Development Authority in Jackson promoting international trade, recruiting overseas investment, managing foreign offices and leading special projects. He graduated from Georgetown University, and gained fluency in Japanese during two years of study in that country.
• Justin Hartenstein, ORACLE Lighting Technologies
Native New Orleanian, Justin Hartenstein began his business, ORACLE Lighting Technologies, out of a garage at just 18 years of age. Despite its humble beginnings, today ORACLE does business in 15 countries and has grown into a global brand bringing millions of dollars in revenue into the Greater New Orleans area from around the world. ORACLE Lighting specializes in energy-efficient solid-state LED lighting products for the automotive, commercial and marine lighting industries and in 2010 had a 3-year revenue growth of 913 percent. This rapid growth caught the attention of national publications such as Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today and The Washington Post. In 2013 the US Small Business Administration named Hartenstein the Small Business "Exporter of the Year" for the entire state of Louisiana because of the company's exporting efforts.
Hartenstein and ORACLE Lighting's exporting specialty is the Middle East and United Arab Emirates (UAE) region. The ORACLE team has made multiple trips to the region with their trade organization, SEMA, and the US Department of Commerce to help promote USA brands and companies to this rapidly emerging market. After 15 years in business and over 15,000 individual product SKU's, ORACLE Lighting is still expanding and finding complementary products to develop in domestic markets and abroad.
• Kee Lee, Crown Products
Kee Lee was born in South Korea and came to the USA in 1971 to attend Louisiana State University's MBA Program. After graduating from LSU, Lee joined local hot sauce manufacturer Crystal International Corporation, the export subsidiary of Baumer Foods. As the Vice President of International Marketing, he was in charge of exporting Crystal Brand hot sauce all over the world. The company was awarded the USA President Export "E" Award in 1985 for its successful sales.
In 1989, Lee founded Crown Products, Inc. Presently, Crown Products, Inc. is exporting a wide range of Crown brand agricultural products and grocery items to approximately 100 countries. The main exports are popcorn, sunflower seeds, bird food, various beans and pulses and some retail items such as peanut butter, mayonnaise, nuts and canned foods. In recognition of the successful international business, the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce presented the S.B.A. Export Award to Sun Kim, the Executive Director of the company, as the winner of Business Exporter State Champion in 2011.
