Business Trip to the Caribbean: Timely Meetings, Strategic Contacts and RFP’s

Export Delaware returned from the Dominican Republic and Jamaica on a state-led business trip with four participating Delaware small businesses. The purpose of the trip was not all about sunshine and beautiful beaches — our team was focused on helping these companies connect with new customers and grow their business reach. Each participating Delaware small business had a full agenda of meetings. “It was a great program,” says Michael Brockert, CEO of Kango Express. “If we had any more meetings, it would have been too much!”

“If we had any more meetings, it would have been too much!”

Secretary Bullock joined our group for two days and had a dozen meetings with international law firms, promoting Delaware as a great place to incorporate and do business. He also accompanied Aqua Science on a meeting at the ministerial level of government of the Dominican Republic. This meeting proved to be pivotal. Iwona Evans, Owner and CEO of Aqua Science, says, “The minister had extensive knowledge in our industry and the applications of our instrument. They are actively researching solutions now, so our meeting was very timely.”

Evans had a packed program as well. She had 12 meetings in three days and presented at the Institute of Technology of Santo Domingo. “This trip exceeded my expectations,” says Evans. She was reluctant to sign up to participate because she felt there wasn’t a lot of market potential in the Caribbean. Export Delaware and the international trade representatives in Santo Domingo performed a market study to see if there was a business case for her to expand there. It turns out there is! “We probably had the most interest there than any other market we’ve visited.” Evans expects to sign a contract with a distributor in the Dominican Republic that she met on the trip. This distributor will represent Aqua Science’s products throughout the Caribbean.

“We probably had the most interest there than any other market we’ve visited.”

The trip was also eye-opening for new exporter John Galdo, Director of Operations of PergolaTek. Galdo had never been on a trip like this before, “I was amazed at how well-coordinated everything was,” he says. “I could have never done this on my own!” PergolaTek creates high-end pergolas, and while in the Caribbean, Galdo met with several top resorts and all-inclusive hotel chains. Many are looking to upgrade their outdoor structures now, and there are many opportunities for PergolaTek!

“I was amazed at how well-coordinated everything was.”

Overall, this was a very productive trip! Here’s a summary of all that happened over the course of the week:

• 2 countries visited
• 4 companies participated
• 6 trade reps helped to facilitate meetings/agendas
• 53 meetings took place
• Lots of new leads developed!

If you are interested in participating in a trip with Export Delaware, complete a Compass Grant application. We head to Southeast Asia in two weeks. After that, our next trip will be to Milan, Italy! Consider joining us in Milan to connect with potential customers and grow your business in Europe.