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Recap: Tampa Bay Export Alliance Trade Mission to Chile, December 2014
45 individuals , 14 companies,  and four elected officials represented the Tampa Bay business community on the Tampa Bay Trade Alliance's first International Trade Mission. The group traveled to Santiago, Chile to meet with Chilean officials, business leaders and company representatives to forge new trade relations between Chile and Tampa Bay. The result? An anticipated $9 million in export sales - a resounding success, as told by participants at a press conference/mission recap upon their return.
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn stressed the importance of leaders from both sides of Tampa Bay working together to bring the mission to fruition and to make the trip a success for all participating companies. "The Bay Area is going out and telling the Bay Area story, not just Tampa's story, said Mayor Buckhorn, and Mayor Kriseman agreed, saying, "Having partners from both Pinellas and Hillsborough on this mission was historic." "This is just a start..." attested Pinellas County Commissioner Karen Seel, and Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller added, "We still have companies down there, making connections, signing agreements."
Five Pinellas companies sent representatives to Chile: Hydro-Dyne Engineering, Custom Manufacturing & Engineering, Inc.,
Eckerd College, Grinder Wear Parts, and SOS Technologies.
They, too, sang their praises of the trip, emphasizing the positive impact of traveling as part of the trade mission, versus trying to make international connections on their own. "We had 11 meetings scheduled going in," said Jay Conroy, President of Hydro-Dyne Engineering. "But we kept adding meetings while we were there as we met more contacts and opened new doors. Working with the Tampa Bay Export Alliance made it so easy to get in front of the people who mattered, and was also beneficial in the opportunity it gave us to network and collaborate with our Tampa Bay peers."
Dr. Nancy Crews, CEO and President of Custom Manufacturing & Engineering, was equally pleased with the mission, stating that her company "came away with five leads - four of them strong leads!" "Chile showed us clearly that it is ready to do business with the US," she asserted.
"To say this trip was productive would be an understatement," said Rick Homans, President and CEO of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation. "Every participant benefited."
Summing it all up, Pinellas County Economic Development Director Mike Meidel states, "We thought we would take Santiago by storm, and we sure did. Our group had over 100 meetings, numerous business deals were made, and contracts are signed. This was a huge opportunity for the Tampa Bay companies that participated! We're going to continue to work with Chile, and we look forward to future trade missions with our Tampa Bay partners."
View photos from Chile and the recap/press conference on our Facebook page.
#TBEAChile in the news:
Chile trip could pay off economically for Tampa Bay, officials say
(Tampa Bay Times)
Export Alliance group returns from Chile with good leads
(Tampa Bay Business Journal)
Chile trade mission brings immediate business results
(Tampa Tribune)
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