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To: terri acey who wrote (23029)	8/18/1999 8:32:00 AM
From: May Tran	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 40688

Found by one of our supporter. Johnny August 16, 1999 Export Assistance Center Employing Internet Tools Theresa Bechard The sometimes daunting process of exporting products overseas will soon be a little easier for local businesses. This fall, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Memphis Export Assistance Center is introducing a number of Internet tools designed to facilitate international trade for more than 2,000 West Tennessee businesses. The center already relies heavily on the Internet for research and communication with foreign buyers, but it wanted to maximize the Web to increase exports for local businesses, says center director Ree Russell. "I think we can use e-commerce to bring information and contacts to smaller, rural areas and enable them to do more trade and to penetrate new markets for the first time," she says. The new technologies being introduced this year include video conferencing, virtual trade shows and push technology, all of which have taken exporting to a new level, says Leigh Shockey, chairman of the Tennessee Export Council. "If I look back 10 years ago, most correspondence was via fax and mail," she says. "Now everything's electronic and that's especially essential for research." The Commerce Department's free webcasts give business executives a front row seat at conferences covering issues of concern to exporters. Topics on the webcasts, available at globalspeak.com, range from strategic fundamentals for small business and exporters to export secrets. The software to hear the webcast can be downloaded free from the site. "It's takes training to your desktop," Russell says. "This way, companies that might not have access to this type of training can get it from their computer at home." While the webcasts give business executives tips and research from experts in international business, video conferencing from the center will soon put them in touch with foreign buyers and other exporters. Peter Stromberg, director of the Center for Global Enterprise at Christian Brothers University, is taking a group from the university to Mexico City this fall to participate in a live video conference. He will meet with buyers there who will participate in the video conference with some Memphis exporters at a scheduled time at the center. "There's a lot of potential with video conferencing," Stromberg says. "We're using the Web as a way to keep in touch with buyers and to facilitate the exchange through video conferencing. "You can't substitute personal interaction, but video conferencing is going to be more popular in the future. It's certainly making the world a lot smaller." Additional video conferences with other countries will be scheduled from the center throughout the coming years. Another Internet tool is the Commerce Department's virtual trade show forum for exporters called E-Expo USA. For $50 a year companies can showcase their products and services from a virtual booth at E-Expo USA, available at selected international trade events. The site is targeted at international distributors, agents and buyers who can access the site from the U.S. Embassy booth at international trade shows. "By enrolling in E-Expo USA, it's like having a Web Creator for yourself and putting it in a venue of the U.S. Embassy," Russell says. "For small companies that want to put products on the Web but don't know where to start, this is a good avenue." The Export Assistance Center will also use push technology before the end of the year to forward customized information like statistics and trade leads to business executives' computers. The Memphis center plans to combine push technology with E-Expo USA to customize sales leads for local exporters. Because the whirlwind of e-commerce can be confusing for businesses wanting to conduct business internationally, the Export Assistance Center wanted to offer a number of different avenues for e-commerce, Russell says. "There are some ways people can take an ant step toward e-commerce if they're not confidant about it," she says. (Staff writer Theresa Bechard can reached at 259-1729, or by e-mail at tbechard@amcity.com)