Go Global-Go Canada Update 2

April 2nd, 2009 at 09:23am Bob Trojan

Just returned from 3 days in Canada, so I wanted to share my experiences….see previous post:  Canada 1

My initial contact with the State of Illinois Office of Trade and Investment came from attendance at the May 2008 Go Global seminar held at NIU Rockford Branch.  Initially starting with the Mexico and Shanghai offices, I expanded my inquiries with the Canadian office, located in Toronto.  Thanks to Chris Sala, Chicago OTI office who I met at the Eclipse Global Seminar in October, he introduced me to Jeff Johnson and Joanne Walsh of the Toronto OTI Office.

In early November 2008, I gave them an outline of my desire to locate distributors for RLA.  Through the diligent efforts of Joanne, we arranged for a visit to Toronto during late March, 2009.

She had conducted extensive research into the Ontario Province and Fluid Power distributors.  She identified possible candidates, made numerous telephone calls to establish their interest and qualifications, arranged 7 meetings and teleconference calls.  Once arriving into Toronto, they met us at the airport, arranged suitable hotel accommodations and provided logistical support.

Our schedule required car travel through southern Ontario and it was efficiently organized.  Face-face meetings were conducted over a 48 hour period, 5 in total.  Two teleconference calls were arranged and conducted. Joanne provided follow-up support by sending my company marketing materials to several other  potential distributors.

After completing the planned program of visits and teleconference call, they agreed to continue research and arrangement for the Provinces of Alberta and Quebec.

Even before we left Rockford for our meetings, I had a complete Briefing Book filled with schedules, names and web pages of all those that we interviewed.  Further information on the economy and maps made our journey that much easier.

Each of the companies that we visited or talked with expressed interest in selling our products.  In fact the very first distributor had sent a quotation request the same day and the next day, we had an answer for him.

There is no question that this process would have been very difficult to conduct on our own.  For Rockford area companies wishing to export for the first time, Canada represents the easiest opportunity; language is no barrier, air travel from O’Hare to Toronto is 1 ½ hours and the U.S. and Canada are major trading partners with each other.

The best news is that Jeff Johnson, Managing Director of the Canada Office is a Rockfordian!  He assumed this job in 1990 and still has family here and keeps up to date on the local scene.  No doubt he has the Rockford area on a high priority.

Entry Filed under: Export, Economy