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President

Tony Livoti

MBITA

Vice President

Shay Adams

AIM Medical Sales

Members

Dr. Edward Valeau

Els Group LLC

Hartnell College

President Emeritus

Marcelo Siero

IdeasSiero

Jim Faith

Trade Export

Finance Online

(TEFO)

Cristina Polesel

MBITA

General Manager

This newsletter has been
created by MBITA's editor
Cristina Polesel
cristina@mbita.org

MBITA New Member

MBITA welcomes new Member Sustainable ENWA Technologies, Inc. (SET).

Sustainable ENWA Technologies (SET) has an established success record in the Engineering, Manufacturing, Procurement and Supply to Renewable Energy Generation Projects. SET capitalizes on the emerging opportunities in the Energy Sector and focuses on engineering, procuring, manufacturing and supply for developing, operating and maintaining Power Projects.

MBITA New Member
SunMark Global

The ‘Cleantech’ Viewpoint is a new section for the World TradeWinds eZine designed to follow the industrial ‘boom’ now occurring throughout the world in the ‘cleantech’ and ‘smart energy’ industries.

MBITA Organizes a 'Deal-making' Trade Mission to China for $10 Million in New Clean-Tech Contract

Santa Cruz, Ca. – Jan 27 – With local companies slammed by the continued recession, China is the brightest spot on the globe and so-called "clean-tech" environmental technologies are even brighter. Today the Monterey Bay International Trade Association (MBITA) and Asia Getaway announced they were selecting more than a dozen local companies to snag upwards of $10 million in new contracts from the Chinese during a ‘Deal-making Clean- Tech Trade Mission to China’ May 22-29.“This trade mission is designed for ‘deal-making’ and not for photo-ops and tourist attractions," said Tony Livoti, president of MBITA in Santa Cruz. "We want participants to hit the ground running for at least $10 million in new business, so we're using web conferencing for extensive information exchange sessions before the trip."

The trade mission is focused on three regions of China: Shanghai, Jiangsu and Changsha, Hunan. Shanghai is the largest city in China and is its leading business hub. Jiangsu, one of the wealthiest regions in China, recently signed an MOU with the U.S. Green Partnership program (JUGP) to develop bilateral trade and investment projects in energy and other Green industry sectors. Changsha, Hunan is a 2nd tier metropolis of 4,000,000 people with a total population of 60,000,000 in the Hunan province which needs all kinds of Green products, technologies and services.

The trade delegation will also participate in the World Expo 2010 that will take place in Shanghai from May 1 to October 31, 2010 with over 186 countries and 48 international organizations participating. Under its main theme of “Better Cities, Better Life”, the expo will showcase a number of exciting initiatives aimed at achieving greener, safer, healthier, prosperous, inclusive, well managed cities and is expected to attract 70 million people from all over the world.

The deadline for registration is March 15, 2010.

For more information and registration visit http://www.mbita.org/chinatrademission/trademission2010.html

'Green' Production Making Inroads in China

A new shade of green is gradually sweeping across China's export manufacturing industry, one that took a while to take root.

Contributed by Global Sources

Companies are riding the environment-friendly wave.

Pressure from the national government and tightening regulations in overseas markets are compelling a growing number of suppliers to modify their business strategies and incorporate ecologically safe processes. The transition is neither extreme nor desperate, but the impact could be widespread as many midsize and small companies are also taking "green" initiatives. Due to the sheer number of these suppliers, they account for a large portion of the pollution and wasteful practices in the country.

1) Video phone manufacturer Xiamen Leelen Technology Co. Ltd cooperates with the environmental services group ABB, a global engineering enterprise that promotes sustainable industrial productivity.

2) Mindful of energy conservation, car amplifier exporter Shenzhen Actiway Electronics Co. Ltd included power saving as a criterion in selecting SMT machines.

3) Fujian Golden Vision LCD Science & Technology Co. Ltd has designated one of its engineers to be responsible specifically for developing ways to reduce power, water and raw material consumption during production.

In some industries, higher productivity is correlated directly to waste reduction. Makers are emphasizing worker training to upgrade efficiency, trim down defects and reduce wastage.

But green manufacturing still has its obstacles.

Often suppliers are not motivated enough to adopt sustainable practices in production. Unless required by buyers, any effort to introduce ecologically safe processes is only deemed as an unwarranted cost. For such businesses, compliance with RoHS, WEEE and other regulations is sufficient in showing their environmental commitment.

Greenpeace keeping a scorecard

In October 2009, a report by Greenpeace highlighted the elevated pollution levels in the Pearl River in southern China. As the main source of drinking water for about 4.7 million residents, the estuary is where thousands of factories dump their waste as well. A high-level cocktail of beryllium, copper, manganese, BPA, alkylphenols and other hazardous chemicals were discovered in analyzed samples from eight cities around the river.

Greenpeace has been active in helping monitor and expose environmentally destructive practices in China. Its media reports have helped pressure manufacturers to adopt more eco-friendly systems and for local governments and enforcement agencies to implement laws and tighten standards.

The group, however, admitted its own limitations as it failed to include hundreds of thousands of small operations that are also heavy polluters.

This article was originally published by Global Sources, a leading business-to-business media company and a primary facilitator of trade with Greater China manufacturers and India suppliers, providing essential sourcing information to volume buyers through their e-magazines, trade shows and industry research.

Small Business Power to Capture Global Consumers
by Ayse Oge

Since World War II, trade growth has contributed an average of about $1 trillion a year to America’s income (in 2003), according to economists at the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics. Strong exports have always been able to invigorate the American economy, and the tremendous innovative and creative power of small U.S. businesses can fuel global sales and help create jobs in the domestic market. Power Curbers Inc., a small firm based in Salisbury N.C. specializing in construction equipment, would have gone bankrupt during the present slow-down of the U.S. economy if it had not gone global. Dyke Messinger, the company's CEO, attributes its success in overseas sales to heavy infrastructure development in other countries. International sales were comprised of 75% of the company’s overall business at the present time (LA Times, October 4, 2009).

As American consumers cut back on their consumption in response to the economic recession, a large number of small and mid-sized U.S. firms look to the huge potential of emerging markets such as India, China, Brazil and Eastern European countries. These countries have a combined population of 2.6 billion people, and many of them are affluent and young in contrast to the aging population of Western Europe, Japan and the United States.

Small businesses have the following advantages when going global:

• With no bureaucratic layers, they can respond to market needs and requests.
• With closer ties to customers, they can discern market trends without formal research.
• They can build a strong global brand.
• They can create a lucrative international niche through specialization.
• They can take calculated and educated risks in international trade to expand their businesses.
• They can gain competitive know-how and knowledge to innovate new products and services.

Power Curber’s bold move toward exports is exemplary in encouraging other small businesses to integrate into the world markets. Small firms need to focus on locating international distributors through trade fairs, Internet marketing and designing a global consumer-friendly website to attract prospective foreign buyers.

The U.S. has a tremendous competitive advantage in terms of its risk-taking culture, capital formation and economic vibrancy that works for global entrepreneurs. A strong teamwork between the government and businesses is required to tap into small business power in delivering jobs and higher living standards in the U.S. economy.

Ayse Oge is 2009 honoree of 8th Annual San Fernando Valley Business Journal “Outstanding Woman in Business” for her significant and sustained contribution to global business. She is Vice President of Valley International Trade Association and President of Ultimate Trade, International Trade Consulting, Speaking and Training. Her work has been featured by FoxBusinessOnline, BusinessWeekOnline and Investor’s Daily. She can be reached at oge@earthlink.net

Have a Green product, service or technology?
Sign up for a membership in GreenTradeNetwork.com

With a focus on global trade industry companies and professionals, the MBITA Global Jobs Center offers its members—and the industry at large—an easy-to-use and highly targeted resource for online employment connections in global trade.



Both members and non-members can use the MBITA Career Center to reach qualified candidates. Employers can post jobs online, search for qualified candidates based on specific job criteria, and create an online resume agent to email qualified candidates daily. They also benefit from online reporting that provides job activity statistics.

For job seekers, the MBITA Career Center is a free service that provides access to employers and jobs in the global trade industry. In addition to posting their resumes, job seekers can browse and view available jobs based on their criteria and save those jobs for later review if they choose.

 Job seekers can also create a search agent to provide email notifications of jobs that match their criteria.

Start using the MBITA Career Center TODAY!