Cummins-Allison Corporation http://www.cumminsallison.com/default.htm

Cummins-Allison Corporation, headquartered in Mt. Prospect, IL, received an Export Achievement Certificate on May 11, 2007, for successful entry into Poland. Julie Carducci, Director of the Commercial Service Chicago office and International Trade Specialist Monica Toporkiewicz presented the award to Chairman William J. Jones. Cummins began exporting products to Poland in 2005 after identifying and appointing a new distributor utilizing the Commercial Service Gold Key Service.  “The assistance of the U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center was important to our success in Poland” according to James Stearns, Cummins Executive VP of International Operations. 

Cummins-Allison Corp. is a leading manufacturer of currency and coin processing equipment.  Banks, governments, retailers, armored carriers, casinos and others utilize Cummins products to count, sort and verify the authenticity of coin and paper currency throughout the world.  The company is the only U.S. owned manufacturer of high-speed currency processing equipment.  In Poland, the Cummins JetScan™ currency processor has become the standard for currency processing because the U.S. built equipment can process Polish Zloty currency as well as other international currencies.  Cummins’ technology offers the best counterfeit detection capabilities for the Polish Zloty along with a user-friendly Polish language interface. All Cummins’ currency processing products are manufactured in United States.  The Company has over 50 factory-direct branch offices throughout the United States and Canada, as well as offices and distributors throughout the world.

AllergyFree Passport LLC http://www.allergyfreepassport.com

AllergyFree Passport® LLC, a Chicago USEAC client as of September 2005, is a health education company dedicated to facilitating the public’s awareness and acceptance of food allergies, intolerances, autoimmune diseases and specifically celiac / coeliac disease on a worldwide basis. Kim Koeller, President of AllergyFree Passport®, with her co-author and Executive Vice-President Robert La France, created and published the award-winning book series, Let’s Eat Out! Your Passport to Living Gluten and Allergy Free. This 1st of its kind book series empowers individuals to eat out, travel and explore the world while managing specialized diets.

Chicago Trade Specialist Monica Toporkiewicz counseled Ms. Koeller throughout 2005-06 on export opportunities in various international publishing markets. In August 2006, she attended CS Chicago's Canada Day Briefing for local companies and had a one-on-one meeting with Commercial Specialists from Montreal.  AllergyFree Passport undertook the GKS service during the Quebec book fair where she would have the opportunity to meet Quebec publishers and other contacts interested in discussing a potential business relationship.

Ms. Koeller confirmed in December 2006, "based upon all of your hard work, dedication and commitment to top quality customer service we signed an exclusive agreement with a Canadian publisher." She stated that they will be distributing her English language book series throughout Canada and are thrilled. Ms. Koeller was very pleased with the CS services AllergyFree Passport® received and stated, "We would also like to thank you for all of your help and guidance in explaining potential services, connecting us with the right resource – your Canadian colleague- and assisting us in getting the ball rolling in Canada. Your efforts have been invaluable to get us to where we are. Voila! Now we've broken into the market, have a distributor and a continuing growing presence throughout Canada! We continue to be extremely impressed with you and the services provided to us. This success was due to the GKS and all of the meetings that you had scheduled with key buyers in the publishing and distribution industry. After trying to penetrate the Canadian market for the past year, we’re finally experiencing the momentum and interest in Canada due to your efforts and expertise. We would highly recommend you and your services in the Canadian publishing market to anyone wishing to break into this area. Feel free to reference us as very satisfied customer and hopefully in the near future a great case study! We hope our book series is available in all bookstores throughout Canada in the near future to help all of those managing allergen and gluten-free lifestyles and this would be thanks to your assistance!"

Study Illinois International Education Consortium
Promoting U.S. Education Exports...Working closely with members of the Study Illinois International Education Consortium, Chicago Trade Specialist Debra Rogers helped coordinate a week of Illinois campus visits for six overseas education advisors from Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, & the Ukraine.

These education advisors are the first point of contact for international students interested in studying in the U.S. They provide invaluable, unbiased counseling on the U.S. educational system, application procedures, college/ university selection, and visa interview preparation. Therefore, it is very beneficial to have the opportunity to familiarize them with the educational opportunities Illinois has to offer. During their visit, they visited 14 different Illinois campuses.

Study Illinois and Ms. Rogers coordinated with the State Department Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs (ECA) to plan the program for the advisors, who were already traveling to the U.S. for the annual NAFSA (international education) conference.

Ms. Rogers also organized the third annual "Conference on Attracting International Students to Illinois", which featured the 6 advisors. The advisors gave presentations on the demand for U.S. education in their home countries, their educational systems as compared to that of the U.S., and the factors and barriers that influence international students' decisions to study abroad.

Ms. Rogers reached out to her contacts in the international business community, gaining significant endorsements and sponsorships for the conference. The Assistant Managing Director of the Illinois Office of Trade & Investment gave introductory remarks at the conference, noting the importance of Study Illinois' mission to the state. The International Trade Association of Greater Chicago sponsored the conference breakfast, and its Executive Director also made opening remarks of support, noting that many international businesspersons seek out and rely on U.S.-educated agents and distributors to represent their firms overseas. The Illinois Global Partnership attended and sponsored this event as well.

Feedback was extremely positive from all parties, including the visiting advisors, the educational institutions that participated in the conference, and our partner organizations. During the remarks, Ms. Rogers and the U.S. Commercial Service were recognized for the organization’s contributions to the success of Study Illinois.

Over 30 representatives of Illinois educational institutions and the Illinois international business community participated in the conference. As a direct and immediate result, Study Illinois gained three new institutional members, relationships between the U.S. Commercial Service Chicago office, its partner organizations and Illinois educational institutions were strengthened and deepened.

Long term, the U.S. Commercial Service Chicago (CS) and the Study Illinois consortium hope to see an increase in foreign students & professionals coming to study in Illinois as a result of the above activities.

Valent BioSciences
Quick Response = Export and Diseaster Relief...On April 4, 2006, CS Prague SCO Greg O'Connor contacted CS Chicago to request support for the sale of larvicide to the Czech government for mosquito control related to the recent flooding. EAS Constance Green contacted the supplier, Valent Biosciences Corporation of Libertyville, Illinois which indicated interest in the sale and ability to turn it around in the 72-hour deadline. This deadline was set by USAID, which was picking up the tab for shipping costs. The US Ambassador was also keen to make this transaction happen for an important trading partner that had recently supported emergency efforts in the US related to Hurricane Katrina. In addition, EAS Green put Valent BioSciences in touch directly with the U.S. Embassy Prague for detailed shipping instructions. Due to excellent cooperation and quick action by the Embassy Disaster Relief Officer, CS Prague and CS Chicago, the Czech government received the shipment, and in record time, for which it expressed satisfaction. Indeed, during a visit to the Republic's second largest city, Brno, the Ambassador met with the Regional Governor who expressed his appreciation (and admiration) that a U.S. company could supply the larvacide they needed for mosquito control so quickly. His region was the hardest hit from the floods earlier this year.

Go2Call http://www.go2call.com
Is a leading provider of high quality VoIP calling services to customers around the world. Go2Call's Global Platform is flexible and scalable enough to serve hosted VoIP solutions for service providers ranging from international carriers to telecom entrepreneurs. Based in Evanson, IL, Go2Call has been a client of Julie Carducci of the Commercial Service Chicago office since 2002, and a frequent and recent user of Commercial Service programs including GKS programs in Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, the UAE, and the 'Showtime' Senior Commercial Officer counseling at NAM 2004, BuyUSA and CommunicAsia in Singapore in 2004. Ms. Carducci regularly counsels Go2Call on the opportunities in the Philippines, and follows up on developments related to the company's projects in that country. As a result, Go2Call established a productive relationship with FSN Aida Miranda to proactively tap opportunities in the liberalizing Philippine telecom market.

In June 2005, Go2Call's David Kleiman subscribed to Commercial Service Manila's Single Company Promotion service, which was held in conjunction with COMMWORLD 2005, the largest local telecommunications trade event in the Philippines. During the show, Sr. Commercial Specialist Miranda and Commerical Assistant Capatayan arranged one-on-one appointments and a half day technical seminar with prospective clients, including internet service providers (ISPs). David Kleiman was also a guest speaker at the Telecom Summit, which helped him network with summit participants. After the event, Post provided David Kleiman a list of potential business partners including attendees at the trade show.

Early in 2006, Go2Call reported that We Are IT, a Philippine-based VSAT provider, signed up as a distributor for the Go2Call Device to Phone and SIP Dialer-enabled calling solutions. Mr. Joseph Madattu of We Are IT also attended the Satellite 2006 trade show in Washington DC in February and met with Chad Smith, Regional Sales Manager of Go2Call, to seal the arrangement and make their initial purchase of Go2Call systems. Mr. Smith was very pleased with Commercial Service Manila's assistance and said that the company started working with We Are IT in September 2005 through the help of US Department of Commerce and CS Manila. Mr. Smith said that "without their help in targeting telecom companies, satellite providers and ISPs in and around Manila area, We Are It would not be a customer." This most recent success builds on Go2Call's 2005 success in the Philippine market in signing up Innove, the wireline and data division of Globe Telecom, the second largest telecom provider in the Philippines. Innove is using Go2Call's Softphone and devices for ILD VoIP calls.

Octagon Resources International
Illinois Partners Facilitate Success in China - Octagon Resources International is a distributor of scrap metals, ferroalloys and varieties of steel products, headquartered in River Forest, Illinois. In July, 2005, Mathew Krishnamachari, COO of Octagon, was introduced to the U.S. Commercial Service by Mary Bullock, President of Global Sourcing, Etc. Mr. Krishnamachari wanted to identify and meet with representatives of steel mills and scrap yards that purchase scrap steel in China.

Director Julie Carducci and Senior Trade Specialist Thomas Panek of CS Chicago worked closely with Ms. Bullock and Mr. Krishnamachari to help prepare for meetings with potential partners through the Gold Key Service (GKS).

In Shanghai, American Trading Center representative Cindy Qian worked with Commercial Officer James Golson, and Sr. Commercial Specialist Janee Pierre-Louis to identify the most promising markets for Octagon’s products as Hangzhou and Ningbo.

To facilitate the meetings, a translator was hired to assist Octagon during business meetings. Mr. Krishnamachari was so impressed with the translator that he retained him for Octagon’s subsequent Gold Key Service in Hangzhou and later hired him as the Company's chief representative in China. Due to these efforts, Octagon has established business relationships with many prospective customers in Zhejiang Province and obtained a purchase order in excess of $1 million from one of the Ningbo contacts.

DePaul University School of Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Services (CTI)
DePaul University School of Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Services (CTI)in Chicago is one of the largest graduate information technology programs in the United States, with more than 3600 students. USDOC Trade Specialist Debra Rogers has worked with CTI since 2001, but recently CTI has become increasingly internationally active, especially in the area of forming global partnerships leading to Masters of Science degree programs.

In July 2005, Adam Kashuba, Director of DePaul's Global CTI effort, notified Ms. Rogers that CTI had signed an MOU with Al-Balqa Applied University (BAU) to open a CTI branch campus in Amman, Jordan. Through this partnership, CTI would be offering masters degrees in Information Systems, Telecommunications Systems, Software Engineering; and Computer, Information, and Network Security. In August, Mr. Kashuba traveled to Jordan to finalize the arrangements and make sure everything was in place to start classes on September 6. Ms. Rogers informed colleague and Senior Commercial Officer (SCO) Laurie Farris at the U.S. Commercial Service in Amman (CS Amman) of the CTI/BAU partner-ship and Mr. Kashuba's travel plans, and she suggested to Mr. Kashuba, that he might call on SCO Farris and invite her to the opening ceremony.

To solidify the partnership and gain the appropriate approvals, SCO Farris, together with Steven Ramirez of the State Department, helped Mr. Kashuba arrange a series of meetings with appropriate officials, culminating in a meeting with the Ministry of Higher Education. SCO Farris accompanied Mr. Kashuba to all his meetings with government officials, and followed up with them to assure receipt of the written approval.

Classes ended up starting about 10 days later than originally planned, but the necessary approvals were received, and 45 students started as a cohort on a two-year course of study leading to the MS degree. Forty students are already enrolled for the next cohort, some starting this winter and others taking prerequisite courses this December.

While accustomed to prompt and helpful assistance from the Commercial Service's Chicago Export Assistance Center, Mr. Kashuba remarked that he was extremely pleased by the extent of assistance he received from CS Amman. He noted that SCO Farris jumped right in, and that DePaul could not have pulled this off in the time necessary without her help.

The Filtration Group
Gold Key Partner Search Service Brings Firm Two New Distributors - The Filtration Group of Aurora, IL is a leading manufacturer of filtration products for HVAC, Cleanroom, Paint, & Filter Media used in the residential, commercial, and industrial markets. Bob Mangiaforte, Regional Director, International Sales, has been a client of Trade Specialist (TS) Robin Mugford in the Libertyville Export Assistance Center since August 2004.
In January 2005, Mr. Mangiaforte contacted TS Mugford to initiate a Gold Key Service (GKS) for Vietnam. Mr. Mangiaforte wanted to find two different distributors - one strong in the HVAC filtration industry, and the second, in the industrial industry. Commercial Specialist Le Son in the U.S. Commercial Service Ho Chi Minh City office conducted market research on the Vietnam filter market and contaced appropriate local companies. The GKS appointments took place in May 2005 with ten different potential distributors.

In December 2005, Mr. Mangiaforte reported that he had appointed one of the companies he met during the GKS to represent Filtration Group and develop export sales in the HVAC filter application industry, and another to serve as distributor in the industrial filter application industry. In a written message, Mr. Mangiaforte stated, "You sold me on the benefits of the Gold Key Service and Son set up the appointments with many potential partners. He also did an excellent job helping us decide which distributors to choose. . . The Gold Key Service was well worth the time and money we invested, and I would not hesitate to recommend this service or to use it again."

Dukane Corporation
Sales to Chile Up 50% after Gold Key Service - Dukane Corporation is a manufacturer of plastic assembly equipment for thermoplastics products. Mr. Nelson Romero of Dukane Corporation contacted Trade Specialist Connie Tinner requesting assistance in expanding sales to the Chilean market. Ms. Tinner arranged for a Gold Key Service to find a distributor for the company with Commercial Specialist Carlos Capurro of the Commercial Service Santiago office. In October 2003 Mr. Romero traveled to Chile to meet with the prospective distributors targeted by the Gold Key Service.

Mr. Romero recently reported that as a result of the Gold Key Service, Dukane selected OAK S.A., Mr. Federico Margarit, General Manager, as its representative in Chile in November of 2004. Mr. Romero stated that he was very happy with the Gold Key Service and would recommend it to other companies. The representative has already gone through training with Dukane, and export sales to Chile have increased over 50%."