News from APP/NMDC

Notes from APP and NMDC

Volume 1, Issue 35

Feb. 8, 2013

In This Issue

Export Counselor

Advancing Aroostook

Saving Time and Money

Thompson now certified export counselor

CARIBOU - Businesses in Aroostook and Washington counties looking to make the leap into exporting now have a new resource for information. Rod Thompson, Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Director at Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC), is now a certified Intermediate Level Small Business Administration (SBA) Export Counselor.

Rod Thompson

"I got certified to comply with a request from the SBA to the State Maine SBDC to have at least three business counselors or 10 percent of the business counseling staff certified to provide export technical assistance to the small business community in our area," said Thompson. "At this time we have three of us certified, one counselor each in southern, central and northern Maine."

As an SBA Export Counselor, Thompson can provide education in basic concepts and key international trade assistance resources available to small businesses.

"The clients I may be working with are both direct manufacturers, who hope to expand their markets, and resellers of products," he said.

According to the SBA, small businesses looking to increase sales and profit, reduce dependence on the domestic market and stabilize seasonal fluctuations should consider exporting.

Nearly 96 percent of consumers live outside the U.S.
Two-thirds of the world's purchasing power is in foreign countries.

"Doing business internationally may seem overwhelming at first," said Thompson. "However, there are a number of programs which offer assistance to small businesses wanting to export their products and services."

More information on exporting and other services is available at www.mainesbdc.org, www.nmdc.org or by contacting Thompson at (800) 427-8736.

SBDC is a partnership program of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, the University of Southern Maine and NMDC.

Advancing Aroostook

Jobs Projection Project Overview

Advancing Aroostook, an every other week segment on WAGM-TV during the Monday Evening Edition of NewsSource 8 and again Tuesday during the Morning Edition, debuted this week. Over the course of the next year Aroostook Partnership for Progress will address issues of importance to the economy of the region, including education to industry initiatives, entrepreneurship, business success stories and much more. The segments will also be available on the APP/NMDC YouTube channel and in future newsletters.

Technology is saving NMDC and Aroostook time and money

CARIBOU - Convenience and cost savings are driving a push at Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC) to better utilize technology to connect people.

A recent example is an informational gathering of contractors yesterday to learn about opportunities with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The meeting was in Augusta, but NMDC's Dave Spooner, who heads up the Maine Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) in Aroostook and Washington counties, realized an all day trip to Augusta for area contractors for a two-hour meeting was not practical, so he set up video conference sites in Houlton, Caribou, Fort Kent and Machias.

"The meeting spelled out some opportunities that may be a good fit for contractors in our region, and it would be a shame if they didn't hear about it because they are so geographically removed from Augusta," said Spooner.

Interest in the meeting in Aroostook and Washington counties was high with seven people signed up in Caribou, five in Fort Kent, three in Houlton and five in Machias.

The video conferencing equipment installed at NMDC offices in Houlton, Caribou and Fort Kent also keeps staff from having to travel for meetings and work sessions, saving time and money. However, not just video conferencing is utilized. Webinars, which is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Internet, are valuable tools.

A key feature of a Webinar is its interactive elements -- the ability to give, receive and discuss information. Contrast with Webcast, in which the data transmission is one way and does not allow interaction between the presenter and the audience.

Mike Eisensmith, director of regional planning, is a big proponent of online meeting web applications like GoToMeeting (GTM).

"I find GTM to be quite intuitive to use - not a lot of learning curve involved if you use it regularly," said Eisensmith. "I use it frequently for conference calls and for staff discussions, especially when I have to share information like a spreadsheet or PowerPoint presentation."

The benefit of the technology infrastructure goes beyond NMDC's bottom line.

"We have conducted a lot of Maine Municipal Association training sessions for county municipalities saving them financial and time resources by not having to travel to Augusta," said Bob Clark, NMDC executive director. "The MMA instructor presents from their offices in Augusta. We also have a video conferencing unit at FAME so we have been doing joint loan applicant conferences saving a tremendous amount of travel time for all parties involved."

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