UPDATE

First National Bank, South Valley National Bank, San Benito Bank, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, and Pacific Capital Bank, are proud to be corporate sponsors of MBITA!



The five banks named above are associated as a Network of Community Bank’s. This association enables each Bank to maintain their separate name, identity and unique culture that define premier banking in their distinct neighborhoods. They are best known for their quality customer service with a strong community-orientation, and yet their combined strength enables them to offer a variety of international banking solutions for their commercial clients.

The following fictitious “case study” relays a common trade scenario for companies who do business internationally. The case study will demonstrate how a general description of a company’s common business practices can help the Bank match financial solutions to the Company’s international banking needs:

Sophisticated International Inc. is a manufacturer of high quality luggage, which is exported all over the world.

The leather for their suitcase line is sourced from a company in Texas and the finished product is assembled at the Sophisticated factory in Salinas, by American craftsmen. Management had made a strategic decision years ago to stay away from the direct marketing of their product.

Instead, they rely upon distributors all over the world, who purchase the merchandise and sell it in their respective markets. The average sale to each distributor translates to about $100,000 per shipment. Sophisticated is requesting a working capital line to support the company’s growing production demands. In reviewing the Sophisticated Profit & Loss statement, it appears that there is a substantial and re-occurring Accounts Payable item to one specific company in Asia named “Bukl-Rite”, indicating that they are also importing raw materials.

Sophisticated has one distributor in Western Europe that they have been doing business with for 8 years and is by far the Company’s oldest and most trusted counterpart. Last year alone, this single distributor imported $400,000 worth of Sophisticated luggage, using commercial Letters of Credit. Both parties are estimated to have paid about $10,000 in Letter of Credit-related charges last year. Both Sophisticated and the distributor would like to find less expensive and less burdensome ways in which to transact business going forward.

While Sophisticated International has only provided a short synopsis of the company’s business needs, the Bank is able to identify many financial solutions for Sophisticated’s business transactions! Of course Sophisticated knew that the Bank would be able to provide the working capital line of credit they requested, but they didn’t expect that so many of their international banking needs could be met by the Bank!

SOPHISTICATED'S NEED :

FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS AVAILABLE VIA THE NETWORK OF COMMUNITY BANKS

• Sophisticated would like to transact business in the foreign currency of the country they are shipping to. At times, they also need to be able to preserve the exchange rate from the time the order is placed to the time the product is manufactured and delivered.
• Foreign Exchange –
  (Spot and forward transactions)
• Sophisticated would like to expedite the receipt of payment for goods shipped.
•  International Bank Wires (incoming)
• Sophisticated’s would like to have financial backing for deals with the distributors who are not well known to them.
•  Export Letters of Credit
• Sophisticated would like to provide financial backing for the deals with their frequent supplier, Bukl-Rite, as well.
•  Import Letter of Credit
• Because Sophisticated has a trusted relationship with their largest distributor and is confident to receive payment, they’d like to limit the bank’s responsibility to assuring that the transaction documentation is correct. Both seller and buyer would like to save money on transaction fees.
• Documentary Collections for goods purchased by their largest distributor.
  This more limited service will save both parties money.
• Sophisticated would like to provide financial backing for deals with their domestic suppliers, as well.
• Commercial Letters of Credit

Sophisticated will benefit from the services mentioned above as well as from the many other business services available to them through the Network of Community Banks!

• First National Bank
• South Valley National Bank
• San Benito Bank
• Santa Barbara Bank & Trust
• Pacific Capital Bank

MBITA members are welcomed to call for solutions to your international and domestic banking needs!

The International Banking Group is staffed by the following professionals:

• Becky Venard
Vice President Northern Region (831) 658-4614
email: bvenard@1stnational.com
Web: www.1stnational.com

• Shawn Walters
Vice President & Product Manager

MBITA Corporate Sponsor

Creative

• Marketing & Advertising Strategy / Campaign
• Creative / Script Writing
• Public Relations / Communication Strategies
• Character Design & Development
• Producing / DirectingPrint

• Corporate ID Logo / Brand Design
• Advertising / Marketing Collateral Design
• Stationery Systems & Business Cards
• Trade Show Booth Design

Interactive


• CD-ROM
• DVD
• Flash
• Kiosks
• Websites
• Programming
Motion
• Broadcast Design & Animation
• Digital Effects & Animation for Film
• Educational / Industrial Videos
• Sales / Marketing Videos
• Video Production
• Editing & Compositing

“We don’t just sell our services,” said Homami, “We enter into relationships. We don’t just conceptualize ideas; we achieve a clients’ goal by realizing the vision with unparalleled execution. Boundaries exist only if we believe in them. We have recently launched our “reformation” campaign to celebrate Crop•Circle• Studios’ sixth year in business and look forward to making many more POWERFUL•IMPRESSIONS™.”

“Web site and product media design is becoming a crucial component in a company’s global marketing strategy. The capability of providing a succinct and powerful visual message about your company and its products or services tailored to the business culture of any one particular country is critical for success. We see Crops•Circle•Studios as leaders in the media design industry and MBITA looks forward to some innovative online solutions when using visual media to market products and services throughout the world”, says Tony Livoti of MBITA.

Contact:

Bob Homami
Creative Director
Crop•Circle•Studios
Ph: 831.646.1543
Fax: 831.646.1593
Web: www.cropcirclestudios.com
E-Mail: bob@cropcirclestudios.com

Start-up companies over the past few years have been faced with the dilemma of growing their companies at a time when investors have fled venture capital market. Many have had to bootstrap operations by concentrating on B2B sales in the US, a slow task fraught with risk. Most entrepreneurs pass over international and government markets, which offer higher margins and reduced volatility, because of the time and energy required to develop those markets.



C Lynch International has developed, and successfully proven, strategies to help new companies tap into these markets. C Lynch International works with clients to identify opportunities, form an appropriate strategy and find the appropriate partners to launch the effort. Chris Lynch, founder of the company, has over twenty years international experience in Europe, Latin America and Asia in advising companies on how to enter new markets. He also understands how government sales work, both in the US and internationally, based on his experience as a US Foreign Service Officer (last Consul General in Hamburg). Chris has an extensive contact network around the globe and knows how to open doors for clients.

Here are some examples of solutions to tough business problems:

• A California company needing entrée into a South American state-owned company. Created a strategy appropriate to the market and set-up meetings with senior government officials.
• Five small companies wanting to sell defense products to Latin America. Presented companies at a trade fair and followed up with innovative local production agreements.
  
• A software company with a public security application. Created strategy to sell to the US and local governments and found grant programs to finance R&D costs.

Chris Lynch founded C Lynch International in 2002 when he moved to the Bay Area following his career with the State Department. Since then, C Lynch International has worked with clients on projects in Germany, Russia, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Japan, and China. An MBITA member since 2003, Chris says that MBITA "is an excellent networking forum and has some of the most interesting and dynamic programs in California."

Contact
Chris Lynch
CLynch international
Tel. 415-717-1105
email: clynch@clynchinternational.com

Poland: the Gateway to the European Union Market
A Report from International Food, Drink and Hospitality Exhibition (IFE) 2004, Warsaw

by Lidia Thompson, MBITA Eastern European Consultant

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