Eight of the10 U.S.-based high tech
companies participating in a February
trade mission to Toronto, organized by
the U.S. Commercial Service, will be
from Rhode Island.
The Commercial Service intended to recruit 10 companies from across
the nation. But a quick response from Ocean State companies and the
Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.’s international trade staff has
locked up most of the available spots, a Commercial Service official
confirmed.
“We’ve had success in the past in Canada,” explained David Croston,
EDC’s software industry account executive.
Croston credited EDC’s international trade staff with helping local
companies fill out the roster. “They have really done a terrific job in
building an alliance with Toronto,” he said, adding that originally he
hoped they’d get about five companies accepted.
EDC officials promoted the trip through the Rhode Island Technology
Council and the agency’s own mailing list, according to Maureen Mezei,
international trade director. Now that participants are signed up, EDC’s
international trade staff are helping the companies prepare for a
whirlwind round of meetings in Toronto.
For the Feb. 3-4 mission, called the Internet Technology DealMaker,
officials from the Commercial Service arrange appointments with
potential clients and vendors.
“It’s a very delicate process of trying to link them with the
appropriate resource . For some it may just be a company that uses their
product; for some it might be a company that represents them (in
Canada),” Croston said.
The trade mission also coincides with the Feb. 2-5 Internet World Canada
’99 show, which is produced by Meckler Media and is Canada’s largest
Internet trade show. Participants get free admission and, therefore, get
more networking opportunities.
Participants must pay for travel, lodging and a $750 participation fee.
Participants must pay for travel, lodging and a $750 participation
fee. But some of the money RITEC received from the Samuel Slater
Technology Fund will be used to offset the costs of training and
preparation related to the trade mission, Croston said.
“RITEC has some Samuel Slater dollars to enhance the competitiveness
of in-state businesses,” he explained. “Principally these moneys were
used to help build the awareness of the technology community in Rhode
Island and allow companies to do trade shows, career fairs.”
About $400 to $500 in Slater money will be used for each company
participating, Croston estimated. “Actually, for the return it’s very
cheap.”
This is the third Canadian trade mission that EDC officials have
participated in and the second involving this particular trade show,
Mezei said.
Last year four companies from Rhode Island participated, according to
Kathy Tufts, EDC’s associate international trade director. Sane
Solutions of North Kingstown participated in a similar mission linked
with the Comdex show in Canada about a year-and-a-half ago, and they are
scheduled to participate in the February program.
James Rose, Sane Solution’s chief executive officer, said during the
last trade mission they hired a Canadian sales representative, doubled
the number of partnerships with Internet Service Providers, and he was
invited to speak at last year’s Internet World Canada conference.
Jim Gardner, marketing director of Metech International Inc. in
Burrillville, said his company is traveling to Toronto with the hopes of
expanding its business base there. Metech recycles computers and one of
its major competitors is located in the Toronto area, he added.
“We currently do business there. We have found that these trade
missions open doors for us more quickly than we can do on our own,”
Gardner said.
Metech also participated in a recent EDC trade mission to Mexico,
where it is trying to enter the market, he added.
A report released this summer by the Industry & Country Program at
the Rhode Island Export Assistance Center, indicated Canada was among
the top 10 countries where the software industry would find room to
grow. Canada’s software market was projected to grow at an annual real
rate of 9.4 percent this year, according to that report.
The other countries included on that list were: France, Japan, the
United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden
and Belgium.
The Canadian Information Technology market in 1997 was estimated to
be worth about $19 billion U.S. dollars, according to data from the
Commercial Service. About 43 percent of those revenues are attributed to
hardware sales, 17 percent to software sales, and the remaining 40
percent to IT services.
Toronto, which has a population of 3.5 million people, is the center
of Canada’s IT industry and also has that country’s highest
concentration of government and business establishments, the Commercial
Service reports.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which eliminates
tariffs and duties on most U.S. exports to Canada, is another reason
that Commercial Service officials encourage companies to take advantage
of business opportunities in Canada.
Mezei and Croston both said there are other factors, including economic
troubles in some Asian countries, that make Canada an attractive place
for companies interested in exporting.
“I think it’s more comfortable. One, they speak the same language, two
they’re principally in the same time zone, three the dollar goes far in
Canada right now,” Croston said.
“For the initial foray into the foreign market, it’s a little more user-
friendly,” Mezei added.
