JEDCO, Jefferson Chamber to host seminar on exporting

Louisiana was recently ranked within the Top 10 Export Leaders in the nation by Business Facilities Magazine. In 2015, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranked Louisiana #1 in the USA for Export Growth. Our state, and our region, are ideally positioned to expand our businesses on a global scale.

If you want to learn more about the exporting opportunities available to you and your business, this seminar is for you. As part of the 2016 Prosper Jefferson seminar, JEDCO & the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce teamed up to bring you a seminar exporting: basic information and strategies to help you sell your products abroad.   We invited three experts to share their experiences and knowledge with you. Topics include:

• How to market your company to overseas buyers
• Exporting logistics and customs- know your paperwork
• Distribution or B2B exporting options- which is right for you?
• Intellectual Property Rights issues to be aware of when exporting.
• Culture of buyers in the Middle East- what drives orders
• How to survive and thrive in the export business
• The benefits of working with the U.S. Commercial Service New Orleans

Join us Wednesday, November 30, 2016, at the JEDCO Conference Center (701A Churchill Parkway, Avondale, LA 70094) from 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. for our Prosper Jefferson seminar on Exporting. The event is free and open to the public. Please register at www.jedco.org/events.

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

John Henry Jackson, U.S. Commercial Service New Orleans

joined the U.S. Commercial Service New Orleans office in November 2015 as the lead specialist to promote international opportunities for Louisiana’s oil & gas sector. He is also assigned as primary client manager to Southwest Louisiana across multiple industry sectors. Since his arrival, he has worked with exporters and economic developers from Monroe, Shreveport and Alexandria to Lake Charles, Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Previously, John Henry spent nine years at the Mississippi Development Authority in Jackson promoting international trade, recruiting overseas investment, managing foreign offices, and leading special projects. He graduated from Georgetown University, and gained fluency in Japanese during two years of study in that country.

Justin Hartenstein, ORACLE Lighting Technologies

Native New Orleanian Justin Hartenstein began his business, ORACLE Lighting Technologies, out of a garage at just 18 years of age. Despite its humble beginnings, ORACLE today does business in 15 countries and has grown into a global brand bringing Millions of dollars in revenue into the greater New Orleans area from around the world. ORACLE Lighting specializes in energy-efficient solid-state LED lighting products for the Automotive, Commercial, and Marine lighting industries and in 2010 had a 3-year revenue growth of 913%. This rapid growth caught the attention of national publications such as Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today, and The Washington Post. In 2013 the US Small Business Administration named Justin the Small Business “Exporter of the Year” for the entire state of Louisiana because of the company’s exporting efforts.

Justin and ORACLE Lighting’s exporting specialty is the Middle East and United Arab Emirates (UAE) region. The ORACLE team has made multiple trips to the region with their Trade Organization (SEMA) and the US Department of Commerce to help promote USA brands and companies to this rapidly emerging market. After 15 years in business and over 15,000 individual product SKU’s, ORACLE Lighting is still expanding and finding complementary products to develop in domestic markets and abroad.

Kee Lee, Crown Products

Kee Lee was born in South Korea and came to USA in 1971 to attend LSU for MBA Program.  After graduating from LSU, he joined Crystal International Corporation, the export subsidiary of Baumer Foods, which is the local hot sauce and other sauces manufacturer.  As the Vice President of the International Marketing, he was in charge of exporting Crystal Brand hot sauce to all over the world.  For the successful sales, the company was awarded USA President Export “E “award in 1985.

In 1989, he founded Crown Products, Inc.  Presently, Crown Products, Inc. is exporting wide range of CROWN brand agricultural products and grocery items to about 100 countries.  The Main items are popcorn, sunflower seeds, bird foods, various beans and pulses, and some retail items such as peanut butter, mayonnaise, nuts, and canned foods.

In recognition of the successful international business, Jefferson Chamber of Commerce presented the S.B.A export award to Sun Kim, the executive Director of the company, as the winner of Business Exporter State Champion in 2011.

Kee is married to Sun Kim who is a Board member of the Chamber, and they have two sons.