Officials from nine bi-national chambers of commerce in Atlanta joined interested area company representatives Friday at the World Trade Center Savannah to talk business on a global scale.
Sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and hosted by WTC Savannah, the morning program featured presentations from each representative on the current status of his or her country’s economy, as well as the business opportunities and services they offer to promote global trade.
The delegation touted the potential in the Netherlands, Turkey, Ireland, Chile, Brazil, Germany, the Czech Republic, India and Belgium.
“Our reason for existing is the same as the Savannah Economic Development Authority,” Brynn Grant, vice president of the WTC and COO of SEDA, told the group in welcome. “Our mission is to create jobs and attract investment, and we are interested in helping regional businesses grow internationally.
“We have many partners, from the city of Savannah to the state of Georgia, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the state chamber,” she said. “So, if you are a company in this region and there is anything the World Trade Center can provide for you — whether it be research, support, business matchmaking or connections, know that we are here to help.”
Conversely, Grant said, her organization met with the Atlanta delegates on Thursday to share detailed information on Savannah and the possibilities it has to offer, so they can share the information with businesses in their respective countries.
When the delegates finished their presentations, they joined the area companies for networking.
Trudy Sauer of Savannah Global Solutions said her company, which specializes in the design and manufacture of site preparation equipment, is — as its name implies — already in the worldwide marketplace.
“In fact, we worked with a Brazilian company that ended up coming here to collaborate with us,” she said.
Last year, the two firms broke ground on a joint manufacturing and assembly facility in Pembroke in Bryan County.
Still, Sauer wanted to hear what the group from Atlanta had to say.
“The world is changing so fast, I wanted to make sure we weren’t missing out because of opportunities we didn’t know about,” she said.
John Cushnie, vice president for economic development for the Georgia Chamber, said the chamber’s International Advisory Council was started several years ago to do three things.
“The first is to create a platform to recognize growth in the potential overseas for area businesses and facilitate that through our bi-national chambers,” he said. “The second is to network with both local and global leaders, and the third is to really spur global commerce in business communities throughout the state.
“We recognize Savannah as a very key opportunity for just that.”