Citrus College Center Helps Local Businesses Go International

 

by Greg Zerovnik

 

General Motors, McDonald’s and Microsoft...some people think international business is reserved for the big shots. Not true. Dozens—even thousands—of small businesses have found they can sometimes be a bigger fish in an overseas pond than they can be here at home. They just need some help to get the ball rolling.

 

One good example is Polymerica, a Pomona-based company founded in 1987 by John Chou, a PhD polymer chemist originally from Taiwan. John earned his BS in chemistry in Taiwan, then came to America to earn a doctorate from Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University. After finishing his education he worked in R&D for several major corporations, including Dow Chemical and Avery Dennison. It was the assignment with Avery that brought him here to California.

 

Ultimately, John left Avery to start his own firm, and since then he has specialized, as he likes to say, in “solving problems” for people. He considers himself a catalyst, someone who can make good things happen for other companies, through the application of his knowledge of polymer chemistry.

 

John had thought about export markets, but wasn’t sure how to get started; he was also wary of being taken advantage of by expensive and perhaps unscrupulous consultants. Then he found out about the Center for International Trade Development (CITD) and California-Mexico Trade Assistance Center (CMTAC) of Citrus College.

 

“I got in touch with Gene Bohatch and Ann Martines at the Center,” says Chou. “They were very helpful. One of Gene's consultants, Dr. Raymond, got things started by introducing me to a company in Thailand that needed a special coating for their artificial flowers. I received a great deal of help for almost no cost. Today, we ship six container loads a year, each one with 80 55-gallon drums, to our Thai customer. It would not have been possible without the help we received through the Citrus College CITD office.”

 

The fact is, economic and workforce development is a core mission of California’s community colleges. The Citrus CITD and CMTAC are joint efforts of the Economic and Workforce Development Program of the California Community Colleges’ Chancellor’s Office and Citrus College, and the only reason they exist is to help local businesses go international.

 

CITD/CMTAC is a non-profit organization; many of its services are free, others have very modest fees. CITD/CMTAC is a full-service international business assistance center providing resources, knowledge, one-on-one technical assistance, and training to help local businesses succeed internationally.

 

Since 1990 over 3,500 businesses have received technical assistance and training through the CITD & CMTAC of Citrus College, with a number of notable successes such as John Chou and Polymerica. “The success of our clients is due to their hard work and dedication,” says Citrus CITD Director Eugene Bohatch. “We are grateful that our clients acknowledge our services as being a contributing factor to their success.”

 

CITD/CMTAC services are based on the practical aspects of international trade (export and import). Services include one-on-one technical assistance by staff and a team of contract consultants, and training through their Building International Trade Skills (BITS) workshop series in English, Mandarin, and Spanish, as well as special international market focus events.