International Trade SpecialistMarch 1994 to Current
U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce - 36 East 7th Street, Suite 2650
I represent the U.S. Department of Commerce's U.S. Commercial Service, the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Government. In this role, I'm responsible for servicing a 14-county area from a one-person office in Dayton, Ohio. I counsel U.S. firms on the entire export process and operate more like a consultant and a solutions provider than a government agent. I advise U.S. exporters on methods of payment, qualifying foreign buyers, transportation and logistics and assessment of markets. In addition, I work with business executives to help them understand U.S. Government export laws and regulatory compliance. I also recommend products and services to help them find qualified agents, distributors and partners outside of the U.S. as well as background reports on foreign firms. I do this by working with my colleagues in 75 countries. I partner with chambers of commerce, educational institutions (my office is currently housed with Wright State University's Raj Soin College of Business in Dayton, Ohio), economic development representatives, representatives of foreign governments and local and national associations. In 2006 through 2010, I headed up our agency's Manufacturing team with 40 people as members. Members were throughout U.S. locations and 11 countries. In this role, I coordinated programs with industry associations, trade show organizers and colleagues in my agency and sister agencies. As an example, I organized a week of activities for team members working at NPE, one of the largest plastics shows in the U.S. held every three years. By collaborating with my colleague in Germany, we were able to get UL to sponsor the printing of a booklet on the plastics industry in 30 foreign markets for distribution to U.S. companies at the show. The market research in the book was written by colleagues in Europe and South America. Following the show, held in Orlando, Florida in 2012, we made the booklet available in pdf. In addition, I've managed webinars, trade conferences and give presentations on a regular basis.
Documentary Collections June 1993 to March 1994
Fifth Third Bank Corporation - Fountain Square, Cincinnati, OH
In this position, I was responsible for processing documents and collections for sight drafts and time drafts for imports and exports in the International Banking division. I also learned how to open and examine letters of credit, transferred payments by wire and used Telex and SWIFT.
