Identifying Companies that Can Export

One of the most important roles of a regional EDO is to identify and connect exporters – and companies with export potential – to existing trade promotion resources.  A range of federal and state programs exist to assist exporters, and all regions – large and small – can enhance their interactions with local firms by talking about exporting and international sales.

Potential Activities

  • Identify exporters
  • Identify companies that have export potential – particularly in target clusters
  • Identify or assess potential assistance needs

Examples

This excerpt from a Stone & Associates report talks about how to identify and categorize companies that have export potential, and provides a number of company examples to illustrate the concepts.

Resources

Checklists, Assessment and Guides

These assessment questions help a regional EDO representative have a conversation with regional companies about exporting

These videos (produced by the US Commercial Service) help a regional EDO understand what an export ready company looks like

These assessments (also produced by the US Commercial Service) assess the export related knowledge and capabilities of companies at different stages of international experience (new-to-export, “occasional” exporter and proactive/experienced exporter) and provide links to information and support to fill gaps.