In the summer of 2011, the New Mexico Small Business Development Center (NMSBDC) teamed up with the U.S. Small Business Administration, through the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, to launch the Gateway to Exporting Program. The program, which ended in December 2013, was aimed at developing foreign markets for New Mexico’s small businesses, and increasing their capabilities to export their products and services.
The funding provided by this program was valuable in allowing the IBA to expand its consulting services throughout New Mexico in order to assist small businesses identify and export to foreign markets. As can be seen below, the two-and-a-half years of the Gateway to Exporting Program were a success, with more than $16 million in documented exports, 16 companies that exported, and 133 that investigated exporting.
The following are the highlights of the Gateway to Exporting Program:
- $16,296,189 in documented exports
- 16 companies that exported with program assistance
- 133 companies that investigated exporting
- 96 companies that were counseled in the program, of which 64 were new to export
- 23 contracts with foreign buyers that were acquired for companies registered in the Gateway Program
- 26 workshops and webinars that were managed by the IBA to promote the Gateway Program – 3,343 people participated in these events
- 19 company specific trade missions to foreign countries that were conducted for Gateway clients by IBA staff
- 20 documented new jobs that were created due to the Gateway Program
The IBA wishes to thank the SBA for being a great partner in this effort and to all of the companies that took the plunge to study and enter prospective foreign markets.