Export Assistance from SUSTA Starting August 1

Small businesses are constantly looking for new customers. Reaching a new market requires meeting new buyers, educating new customers, and advertising. Starting August 1, SUSTA will accept applications for the 2012 Market Access Program (MAP) Branded. The Branded program is designed to help food and agricultural companies enter export markets with 50% reimbursement for promotional costs, such as advertising, exhibiting at trade shows, and changes to packaging and labels. Download the Pre-Qualification Form from the SUSTA website today to double your international marketing budget for next year!

Eligible companies are small according to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) standards, have yearly sales of at least $100,000, and promote a brand-name product that is at least 50% U.S. agricultural origin. MAP Branded is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and administered to southern U.S. companies by SUSTA. Companies located in any of SUSTA’s member states can apply for funding: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

SBA, Inc. Magazine and AT&T Collaborate to Promote Exporting

SBA, Inc. Magazine and AT&T have come together to make a series of videos to inspire and encourage American small businesses to actively pursue exporting. The videos start with the answer to “why export"? You can watch other subjects like finding your first customer, planning for export success, how to connect with foreign buyers and case studies among others. The videos are posted at http://www.inc.com/exporting. Once a Southern U.S. company is ready to take the next step into exporting, they should know that there are programs that the Southern U.S. Trade Association (SUSTA) manages to help the process be more affordable and manageable. SUSTA helps organize a variety of trade shows, expos and missions at a reduced cost to participants. Also, for approved participants SUSTA reimburses up to 50% of certain international marketing and promotion expenses. Please go to http://www.susta.org/index.html to learn more.