International Connections
As the Midwest continues to reinvent its economy through programs and incentives for ethanol and renewable energy, two groups, totaling nine Illinois State University (ISU) students and faculty, will travel to New Zealand and Germany, respectively, in June 2007. They will evaluate and expand export opportunities for two Illinois agri-businesses.
This international internship opportunity, the Export Project, was launched two years ago by a group of five ISU professors representing Technology, Entrepreneurship, Agriculture, Marketing and International Business. Together they have developed an innovative export education program linking ISU students and faculty with AgVantage, Inc. of Loves Park and FranMar Chemical of Bloomington. The venture, which provides educational experiences and international economic opportunities, has doubled in size since its inception.
The 2006 pilot group for AgVantage traveled to New Zealand to focus on the marketing and manufacturing of the increasingly abundant Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGs), a by-product of ethanol production. A second team of students will travel back this summer to work with AgVantage's partner company. This group will focus on market opportunities that incorporate RFID (radio-frequency identification) for sophisticated tracking into a multitude of composite materials made out of DDGs by AgVantage. To prepare for their time abroad, the students spent a portion of their spring semester interacting with company's representatives, researching potential overseas markets, and touring the National Composite Center in Dayton, Ohio.
The three students and professor traveling to Germany this summer representing FranMar will meet with potential distributors. FranMar's products include soy-based solvents that have a variety of consumer and industrial uses. FranMar owners believe Western Europe represents a strong market for its environmentally-friendly product line. During their month in Germany the group will research international laws for importing products from the U.S., look at international tax codes to determine the most cost effective means of importing, and will also introduce FranMar's products to distributors to establish a customer base. In preparation for their trip to Germany the student team worked closely with company representatives, toured the Bloomington, IL home office and attended the World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas, where they did product demonstrations and interacted with customers.
This interdisciplinary and hands-on overseas experience is the first of its kind for ISU from both an academic and business perspective. Support for the project comes from FranMar and AgVantage, ISU's Colleges of Business and Applied Science and Technology. The Export Project hopes to sustainits work through grants, small business support, University funding and possibly intellectual property residuals. Companies and individuals interested in participating or supporting this initiative should contact Dr. Iris Varner, Director of International Business Programs at (309) 438-7843 or izvarner@ilstu.edu .
