Market Development Cooperator Program

ITA Helps Washington Aerospace Firms Exceed Export Goals

When it started it MDCP project, the goal of the Washington Department of Commerce (WDOC), was to help U.S. companies export $50 million in aerospace products and services. By the end of the four-year project period, WDOC had achieved 732 percent of its goal. Aerospace trade shows worldwide, including the Dubai Air Show, pictured below, have been the focus of WDOC's MDCP partnership with ITA. image: courtesy Kallman Worldwide Inc.

Firms Leverage Commercial Service Programs

The impressive export results did not appear magically. WDOC exceeded its output goals by exceeding its input goals. In its four-year MDCP project WDOC had projected that there would be 25 instances of U.S. firms using Commercial Service (CS) programs like its Gold Key Service. By the end of the project there had been 150 instances. Likewise, WDOC had projected 50 instances of helping firms with market intelligence and 25 instances of helping with financial assistance to help defray the cost of exhibiting at international shows. But WDOC was able to produce 183 instances of market intelligence help and 122 of financial assistance.

WDOC coordinated closely with Diane Mooney from CS's U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) in Seattle, Kim Wells, Supervisory Industry Specialist in ITA's Industry & Analysis (I&A), and staff from various CS posts around the world. For example, a member of Kim Wells' I&A aerospace team identified Hamburg AIX as a trade show that should be of particular interest to Washington firms that specialize in aircraft interiors. This show had not been on the list of shows in WDOC's MDCP proposal but WDOC decided it was a good fit.

Moritz Holst, a trade specialist with ITA's CS office in Hamburg, made a "Know Before You Go" presentation to help prepare Washington firms planning to attend Hamburg AIX. He also counseled U.S. firms on how the aircraft interior supply chain works in Europe. And, he reached out to German firms through BDLI, the German aerospace industry association. These contacts, coupled with the preparation, made it easy to match up U.S. firms with just the right European buyers.

Export Results Three Times Higher Than Anticipated

Efforts like those described above have been typical for the several trade shows that WDOC has led delegations to over the past three years, from Dubai to to Hamburg to Sinagapore. So ITA's contribution goes well beyond the $300,000 of MDCP award fund made available to WDOC to cover other project expenses.

The ITA-WDOC partnership has been quite effective. Since the MDCP project began in late 2014, WDOC and ITA have helped 41 Washington companies to consummate 147 export deals totaling $366,233,978. So, for every dollar of MDCP award, WDOC helped generate $1,221 in exports.

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