Start date for import/export quickly nearing

A company that exports its products to other countries can dramatically increase its sales.

Importing goods from abroad will surely diversify a businesses’ inventory of offerings.

And having a fatter bottom line would, naturally, pique the interest of more than a few commercial enterprises in the tri-parish area.

When it comes to exporting products from and importing them to Terrebonne Parish, “We think the field is fairly wide open, though folks may not think it is,” said Katherine Gilbert, business retention and expansion director for the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority (TEDA) in Houma. “The opportunities for export are limitless within our community. We’re now a global commercial society.”

TEDA, along with the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce, is sponsoring a series of four seminars aimed at helping businesses learn the intricacies of importing and exporting goods and products.

The sessions will be held April 16, 18, 25, and May 2 from 12:30 to 5:00 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce, 6133 Hwy. 311, in Houma.

The cost is $160, which pays for all four sessions and the books. Chamber of Commerce members and TEDA clients can receive a reduced price.

The seminars will cover such topics as customs entry procedures, international market research, international banking and financing, pricing, transportation, and documentation, according to a press release.

Counselors from the Louisiana Small Business Development Center, a publicly-funded program which helps to train and educate small-business owners in managing their enterprises, will conduct the sessions.

“We have a variety of companies in Terrebonne Parish which already import and export products,” Gilbert said, “but we have many companies which could potentially benefit” from exporting and importing goods.

“Any number of things can be produced” for buyers abroad, she said. “We can show them how to take your product and market it overseas, and how to improve pricing. This is the target market for this type of training.”

Gilbert pointed to the North Sea, west of Great Britain, as a place attractive to oil and gas suppliers in Terrebonne Parish.

“The oil and gas industry and fabricators already ship their products overseas from this community,” she said.

“The south Louisiana oil industry is light years ahead of what’s happening in the North Sea,” she said. “Oil and gas in the North Sea need our technology. It’s not a reach to say our local suppliers could find a market (there).”

In addition, Gilbert said that “adding value to shrimp and building a market” overseas for the product is another activity for local business interests to explore.

On the importing side, Gilbert said, “It can be less expensive to import. Businesses may find that it’s a much better way to operate.”

She said that “specialty food and wines,” in particular, are ripe for importation.

“We’re moving toward a discriminating palate,” she said. “Europeans have a cachet to it. You’re not going to Wal-Mart to pick up specialty food items.”

However, importation mostly involves “taking in raw goods in the manufacturing process for resale here,” she said.

In addition, Gilbert indicated that “with the Internet, you can understand how we can increase our reach across the” oceans.

The business counselors from the Louisiana Small Business Development Center teaching the seminars are from the center’s Greater New Orleans Region, the press release states.

“We brought them in from New Orleans because some (people) expressed interest in importing/exporting,” Gilbert said.

“People have entrepreneurial spirit, but they may not have the educational background,” she said. “This helps supplement their knowledge base.”

“This is a way to fill your toolbox-to make your business a success,” she said.