This issue of World TradeWinds contains information on two important conferences that MBITA is co-producing.

On November 13th the 'Organic Export - Succeeding in the Global Marketplace' Seminar will take place as part of the CIMPA grant received from the California Department of Agriculture (CDFA) to the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and MBITA.

On December 5th MBITA is co-producing 'Global California - Economy in Transition' with the CalTrade Report. This conference will feature leaders in California's Trade Promotion community discussing how California's global economy will change in the months ahead as funding from the State of California for trade development and promotion is scheduled to disappear. We hope you can attend!

The basic formula for building these businesses is to start with a unique and powerful business concept which meets a social need in emerging industries that are well suited to take advantage of what the Internet has to offer. IdeasSiero’s team of highly skilled professionals provides the necessary infrastructure to incubate these businesses from seedling stages all the way to maturity. The company also uses its own technical expertise to provide software, design, and quality Internet access servers, information technology, and needed system administration at affordable prices.

Artists.com is meeting needs that are crucial to artists, especially in the current economic climate. While the economy is more and more shrinking the resources available to art practitioners and support organizations, Artists.com is building a business model that helps artists market their services, and helps art lovers acquire art in affordable ways.

With the cooperation of its sister companies Business with Pleasure and Sign City, Artists.com will act as a print shop and fulfillment center for quality art reproductions. Artists.com will use the Internet as its primary marketing vehicle.

Like other IdeasSiero Internet businesses the model is being tested in the Santa Cruz and Monterey region, but has been designed to organically grow and extend itself over time to serve artists and customers on an international scale.

In addition to helping visual artists, Artists.com has also ventured into producing several CD’s for very talented California artists, with the notion of adding a grass-roots recording company component to its list of activities. Artists.com is scheduled to be officially launched on November 15th of 2003, with an initial contribution of 4 artists. The number of artists featured is expected to grow dramatically in 2004.

Houses.com offers a unique program to match buyers with sellers through on-line analysis (OLA’s) and local real estate affiliates. Their model has been proven very successful in its test market area of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, evident by the huge savings it has afforded its customers. The hands-on service customers receive empowers them and at the same time is significantly less expensive than working through conventional real estate agents. Houses.com will be coming to California in 2004.

Using business models that have inherent social value is a priority for IdeasSiero. It is the company’s belief that this general approach creates a healthy business environment that brings great satisfaction and energy to all those who invest their effort and energy into each of these endeavors. Something that is often lost in the corporate world is that business, just like life, is not just about making a profit; it is also about participating in the exciting endeavors that make a difference in people’s lives.

The company’s CEO, Marcelo Siero, is also currently serving on the Board of Directors of MBITA. Mr. Siero brings 30 years of broad-based experience in computer engineering and marketing. His experience includes serving on a team that successfully designed and launched the very first VLSI HP3000 computer for Hewlett Packard Corporation and worked at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) during the early revolution of the computer industry. He also pioneered and ran an Internet Service Provider business for 9 years in the early 90's, and has been running a successful computer consulting business for the past 20 years. He is currently spearheading IdeasSiero by applying technological innovation and creative solutions towards the development of socially conscious businesses.

MBITA would like to welcome its new member DeFeo Gehri Associates, Inc., from Carmel, CA. DeFeo Gehri Associates, Inc. is an aerospace and defense business development and marketing firm specializing in creating customized strategies for innovative firms seeking first-time penetration or increased market share in the billion-dollar, complex, and highly-regulated Department of Defense (DOD) and federal agency marketplace.

Clients have included:

The Library of Congress (LOC), The Center for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR) and the International Defense Acquisition Resource Management (IDARM) program at The Naval Post-Graduate School (NPS), Monterey, CA; The Department of Systems Management at NPS; The Air Force Special Operations School (AFSOS), Hurlburt Field, FL; The Air Force Academy; Colorado Springs, CO.; Dynamics Research Corporation (DRC), Andover, MA; SAP Public Services, Inc., Newtown Square, PA; Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC), Annapolis, MD; Systems Exchange Inc. (SEI), Monterey, CA; AMPORT, Inc, Teterboro, NJ; MxI Technologies, Ltd, Ottawa, Canada; EVASWorldwide Inc, Ramsey, NJ; and The RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA.

 California's First International Organic Food Export Program

The COPES program will provide extensive marketing assistance to companies in California to initiate and increase export activities for organic products, including key trade show appearances in Europe and Asia, foreign and reverse trade missions, seminars, and 'desk-top to desk-top' eLearning courses.

COPES is the direct result of a competitive grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) awarded to CCOF for their proposal to increase awareness and export opportunities for California's organic specialty crops exports.

Founded in 1973, CCOF was one of the first organizations to certify organic farms in North America. Today, it is dedicated to organic certification, public outreach and education about organic food and organic agriculture, and advocacy for governmental policies that protect and encourage organic agriculture in California and throughout the U.S. CCOF has more than 1,200 members and over 150,000 acres of certified organic land.

Growers, processors and shippers who want to develop a competitive edge in the global marketplace are encouraged to take advantage of the COPES program by attending an eight part seminar series discussing exporting organic products to the global marketplace.

Between the years 2003 and 2005, the goal of the COPES program is to offer four seminars per year delivering vital information on how to sidestep potential export barriers and successfully deliver organic products to the global marketplace. In being a participant of these seminars, you will learn how to:

• Identify the right market overseas for your product
• Work with complex foreign certification compliance standards
• Utilize new technology to manage mandatory export banking and shipping documents quickly and efficiently
• Work with up-to-date information on organic standards both at home and abroad

TradePort, MBITA, and the CalTrade Report invite you to participate in this year’s premier California International Trade conference called Global California - Economy in Transition to be held December 5, 2003 at the Cisco Conference Center in San Jose.

In today's world, there is no such thing as a purely self-sufficient economy. The fact of the matter is that all business is in some way global, and nowhere is this truer than in the state of California.

The Global California conference will be addressing current issues related to global trade with California importers and exporters by providing a forum of unique topic-specific panels of international businesspeople from across the state to offer insight, vision and dialogue on the current and future state of the global economy in California.