Hanover’s Perspective
International Trade Mission Opportunity for Hanover Businesses
The Metro Richmond Exports Initiative (MREI) is in search of local businesses interested in participating in an upcoming Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) international trade mission. A number of grants are available that will cover the $2,500 trade mission registration fee for qualified trade mission attendees. However, businesses will be responsible for travel costs.
- Benefits from participating in the VEDP trade mission include:
- Assistance identifying which international market is best suited for your product or service
- In-country support to identify the best potential customers and partners
- Scheduled one-on-one meetings with prospective customers and partners
- Translation services and culture coaching where necessary
While interested businesses do not need to know where they would like to travel, they should be ready to spend a week abroad. VEDP can help identify a trip fitting of their export potential. To qualify, businesses also need to have the capability or the ability to develop the capacity to fill international orders. This opportunity is for businesses who produce both services and goods. Companies must travel by the end of June to qualify.
“Virginia has a proven track record of supporting businesses expand into exporting and a wealth of resources in place to help you make the next step,” explained Chris Ingram, Hanover County existing business manager. “With MREI now helping to offset the cost to join VEDP on a trade mission, as well as a host of other financial grants to get you started, exporting is becoming simpler even for small businesses.”
The Metro Richmond Exports Initiative is a partnership between the Greater Richmond Partnership, Virginia’s Gateway Region and Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Urban & Regional Analysis. Their goal is to increase exports of small- to mid-sized Richmond-area businesses by 40 percent by 2020.
If you’re a Hanover County business owner interested in this opportunity, please contact Chris Ingram for more details.