Bio Soil Enhancers, Inc, a Hattiesburg company, manufacturers a product which it says restores the natural properties of soil and reduces the use of fertilizers. Company President Wayne Wade says they've grown from five employees to 30 and have 100 plus licensees and distributors worldwide, since they began exporting the product. Wade credits the Mississippi Development Authority.
"For an example in Latin America, if we go to Guatemala, or Honduras or El Salvador with the Mississippi Development people, they set the appointments. They vet our potential clients. They provide us with interpreters, drivers, you're totally secure, you know where you're going and you're going with an awesome amount of credibility." said Wade.
More than 35 businesses are here at the Governor's First Export Summit in Jackson. They're meeting with experts in a range of fields, such as web design and marketing. These initial contacts begin the process of networking and learning about exporting. Spencer Errington is with Expeditors, which has 250 offices worldwide.
"We have a customer in lets say China, that needs our product and we need to get it there. We would be the ones who would facilitate the movement from picking it up from their facility, being the liaison for U.S. customs, being the liaison with the Chinese customs and then getting it to the door." said Errington.
Rose Boxx who is with MDA says exporting is about relationships.
"The trust that you have to build with those people, the relationships, the commercial agreements that you have to negotiate, so it does take a little longer because the cultures are different, the economies are different." said Boxx.
Boxx says that Mississippi currently exports 11.4 billion dollars worth of products to almost 200 countries.
