TAMIU SBDC Invites Local Business Owners, Lenders to Exportation Seminar Tuesday, Jan. 24

Local business owners interested in learning more about exporting their goods and services are invited to a seminar organized by Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Tuesday, Jan. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom.

The event is free and open to the public.

Michael González, TAMIU SBDC director, said that both business owners and lenders are invited to the event, which will be held in two parts.

The first part, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., will target local business owners or potential business owners who are interested in exporting.

“We will be discussing opportunities available for these types of business activities and will be providing information on the STEP Grant, offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration,” González explained.

The second part, from 1 -2:30 p.m., will target the local lending community and focus on discussing resources available to local lenders who engage with business owners interested in exporting.

“Speakers from the Department of Commerce, the Texas Department of Agriculture and the University of Texas San Antonio International Trade Center will be available to provide participants information about incentives and programs available for both business owners and lenders,” González said.

González explained that a business owner may be an exporter and not know it.

“If you have a product or service that is provided to international clientele, you are an exporter,” he said, “This means that many local professional services firms, retail, restaurants and hotels may qualify as exporters. 

Funded by the State Trade Expansion Promotion (STEP) Grant Initiative from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) aims to increase the number of Texas small businesses exporting to foreign markets and to boost the value of exported goods and services, González said.

The TDA has partnered with the Texas Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Tourism (OOG), the University of Texas at San Antonio-International Trade Center (ITC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce to develop and implement a program to offer Texas businesses export training, technical assistance, market expansion opportunities through the participation in the State-led trade shows and financial support to conduct individual export activities, González said.          

“We invite business owners and lenders to attend this event to learn more about resources available to them as exporters and upcoming scheduled foreign trade activities,” González said.

The SBDC has been assisting small businesses in the community for over 20 years. The TAMIU SBDC is a unique partnership between TAMIU and the University of Texas at San Antonio, with its main office located at TAMIU’s Western Hemispheric Trade Center 

Since 2011, the TAMIU SBDC has had a total of 2,961 new clients, and provided 14,364 counseling hours to new and existing businesses.

For more information, please contact González at 326.2480, email michaele.gonzalez@tamiu.edu or visit offices located in the Western Hemispheric Trade Center, room 226.