Federal Grant To Expand Export Project

Date: 6/12/07
Contact: Eric Jome

Illinois State University’s Export Project will help more Illinois-based businesses expand into overseas markets, thanks to approximately $160,000 in federal grant funding. The multidisciplinary project also gives Illinois State University students a unique opportunity to gain international business and marketing experience.

The grant funding, given over the course of two years, comes from a U.S. Department of Education program to support business and international education. The funding will be used to expand partnerships with small and medium-sized agriculturally-focused businesses, enhance the University’s international business curriculum, and provide more opportunities for faculty development.

The Export Project, which began in 2005, is a collaborative effort between the College of Business (COB) and the College of Applied Science and Technology (CAST). Faculty members from International Business, Marketing, Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, Agriculture and Technology work together on the innovative program. Faculty and student Export Project teams are currently partnered with Loves Park-based AgVantage, Inc. and Bloomington-based FranMar Chemical. Team members are spending part of this summer in New Zealand and Germany working with businesses and markets to evaluate and expand export opportunities for the two Illinois companies.

The federal grant money will greatly enhance the scope of the Export Project, which provides a valuable international business education opportunity for students while benefiting Illinois companies. The grant, along with matching funds from the University, will allow the Export Project to partner with more small and medium-sized businesses that are looking to market products overseas. Educational opportunities for students will be expanded with the development of two new courses within the College of Business: an export seminar and a class to help prepare students as Certified Global Business Professionals through NASBITE International, a professional organization for the global business community.

Enhanced faculty development will also be a component of the project’s expansion. More opportunities will be available for junior faculty members to accompany senior faculty and students during the summer overseas phase of the program and to develop new international business and marketing teaching materials to be shared with colleagues.

In addition to University support, the Export Project also receives assistance and support from Illinois’ Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; the Food Export Association of the Midwest USA, and the Illinois Department of Agriculture. These organizations provide the project members with access to vital data and logistical support and links to overseas business and market contacts.

This is the second year that Export Project faculty and students have traveled to New Zealand on behalf of AgVantage. The company manufactures shipping pallets, highway signs and other building products made from a composite material consisting of ethanol production co-products. AgVantage shipping pallets are sent to Dataloggers, a New Zealand-based company that installs radio frequency identifier (RFID) chips into the pallets. This summer, team members are focusing on market opportunities for the RFID equipped pallets. A team is also working in Germany this summer representing FranMar Chemical, which produces soy-based solvents for consumer and industrial use. Team members will meet with industry representatives and focus on cost-effective ways of marketing the solvents in Germany.

Faculty members in the Export Project include Iris Varner, a professor of international business and director of the COB’s International Business Program; Peter Kaufman, an assistant professor of marketing; Mark Hoelscher, director of the COB’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies; Aslihan Spaulding, an assistant professor of agriculture; and Klaus Schmidt, an associate professor of technology.

For more information on the Export Project contact Iris Varner at (309) 438-7843 or izvarner@ilstu.edu