By Ward Peck
Editor

A perennial question for Maine politicians and pundits is how to make Maine grow. Cut taxes or raise them? Streamline government or create new programs. Invest in education or infrastructure? The assumption behind these questions is that Maine needs to sell more stuff, preferably to people not from Maine. Increased exports means more money in Maine’s pocket and a stronger economy. Without it the politicians are merely fighting over thinner slices of an ever-shrinking pie.

Earlier this month, Janine Bazillon-Cary of Cape Elizabeth was promoted to head the Maine International Trade Center (MITC) as Maine’s International Trade Director. Cary previously was a vice president and senior trade advisor in MITC’s Portland office. It is the job of her organization to help Maine businesses break into international markets, and hopefully, increase the size of that pie.

In order to be named to the directorship, Cary was first suggested for the position by the MITC’s board of directors. The governor then gets to weigh in and review the board’s choice. The Maine State Senate, first in committee and then by the whole Senate, then must approve the appointment. That process ended on Sept. 11 with Cary’s approval.

“It is a unique operation,” Cary said. “We are a non-profit membership organization. Fifty percent of our budget comes from state funding and 50 percent comes from the private sector in membership dues. The state part allows us to pay our staff and keep the lights on and the private portion funds our programs and allows us to do what we do.”

Cary said that what they do is help Maine businesses that deal in international markets, both importers and exporters, but most of their focus, resources and services are geared to help exporters.

Universally, exports are seen as better for an economy because you are pulling money in rather than sending it out, but both provide jobs and promote development.

“When I tell people what I do, they think it doesn’t affect them,” Cary said. “When people hear ‘international trade’ they think we work with the huge corporations, when in fact most of the businesses we work with are quite small, the average size is about 25 employees. Businesses in Maine overall are small.”

She said it is the small companies that need the MITC’s help, whereas the large corporations are well versed in the intricacies of international trade.

By and large, the companies seeking assistance can’t afford to conduct market analysis in a foreign country or hire experts in international trade law or don’t have the expertise in the logistics of getting things from here to there and money from there to here, she said.

“A lot of the people we work with will come in after meeting a buyer from an international market accidentally,” Cary said. “That first international trade will come from meeting someone at a trade show in this country. Once companies make headway in the US market we can help them tap the global market. Years ago marketers didn’t focus on exports because the US market was large enough. Today, that market has shifted as more foreign companies increase the competition and producers need to look elsewhere to expand their trade.”

Cary said the membership fee is based upon the number of employees. For instance, a three-person firm pays about $200 a year. Membership allows companies to tap MITC’s resources such as market research, attending gubernatorial trade delegations to international markets, and business matchmaking. During trade missions and trade shows, the organization coordinates delegation of exporters, and sets up meetings with buyers.

“It’s not haphazard, it takes many months of preparation,” Cary said. “Usually by the time we arrive, everything has been worked out except the final negotiation of terms.”

Her organization coordinates one to three trade show visits a year. Most are industry-specific. In June she went to Shanghai with a delegation for a wood products show, selling Maine wood products for the Chinese building and furniture market.

When we sat down to talk, Cary had just returned from Birmingham, England (she hadn’t yet had time to announce her appointment as director) where she brought four Maine companies to attend the GLEE trade show for garden and outdoor living products.

The companies, Eastern Industries, which builds mowers; Correct Building Supplies, which manufactures decking and other building material; White Cedar Gazebos and the Maine-Made line of products, are not exactly household names or giants of industry, underscoring her point about what types of companies benefit from the organization.

“We do pre-show advertising and use the American embassy to invite target buyers to a reception. We meet with retailers to learn more about the end use and the marketing and retailing practices,” Cary said. “There are diverse ways to market products in the international arena so we educate producers as much as possible.”

MITC also organizes programs and seminars about international trade. The seminars run the spectrum from introducing firms to the concept of international trade to very specific education about certain countries or specific markets.

From her days in college, Cary’s focus has always been trade.

“I studied economics and French at U. Mass., Amherst and the Sorbonne in Paris. I started with a small Italian company in Boston. I moved to Maine in 1987 to work for a seafood exporter, Resource Trading Company,” she said. “Because I’ve always been involved in international trade I assumed everyone in my industry was, too. But when I began working here I found there were few companies working in overseas markets.”

MITC was formed in 1996. Prior to that three different entities did what her organization now does.

“One dealt solely with trade assistance and market research, another was involved in trade education and the third assisted exporters with coordination in terms of matchmaking between buyers and sellers,” Cary explained. “Governor Angus King began a program of streamlining government to create efficiencies and merged the three. It was an effective plan and we’ve been able to increase deliverables for less.”

While MITC helps Maine firms tap markets throughout the world, it has found two markets that require specialized and dedicated service, Canada and China. The organization operates a China Desk and a Canada Desk.

Canada is by far Maine’s largest trading partner with Maine exporting more than $900 million in goods and services to its neighbor to the north in 2005. By comparison, Malaysia is ranked second with less than $400 million in exports in 2005.

For the last year, the MITC has been operating a China desk to help position Maine companies to take part in the rapidly expanding Chinese export market.
“We have seen a 200 percent increase in exports to China and we're receiving a larger and larger number of calls each year,” Cary said.

China is now Maine’s fourth largest export market, sending more than $100 million in Maine goods and services to the mainland (Taiwan is 15th on the list, buying $25 million in Maine products). Cary predicted another large increase in exports to China once 2006 numbers are finalized.

Part of the international trade equation is logistics. Once a buyer and seller agree to terms, the product still needs to get from point A to point B. While Cary is not an expert on port operations, knowing a thing or two about logistics and Maine’s port facilities are part of the job.

“We work closely with Maine Port Authority, the Port of Portland, Searsport, Eastport,” she said. “One of the most dynamic developments has been the Lewiston Intermodal Facility. It is fairly new and it is growing. It is a transit point that allows companies in Maine and throughout New England to bring their products and get them on trains to take across the middle of the country and Canada. It is growing like mad.”

“In terms of logistics, people are looking more and more at rail service, investing in infrastructure to make it more high-tech. You can put products on a train and get it there much faster than by ship. As energy costs have increased it has become more efficient.” Asked why Portland Harbor, a few hundred miles closer to Europe than other U.S. ports and with deep-water anchorages and piers, is not a more bustling container destination, Cary said it will never be the Port of Newark (not that anyone would want it to be) but it is poised to grow.

“Sprague, which recently bought the Merrill Terminal in Portland, has added a lot of high-tech storage capacity,” she noted. “The Port of Portland is putting a lot of effort into development but it needs a lot of expensive capital investment. The Ocean Gate terminal will help as part of a strategic plan to promote container ship traffic by concentrating the passenger service in one area and freeing up capacity for the international terminal to grow.”

She pointed out the Port of Portland will attract more commercial business not just from Maine but the whole region due to the fact that the traditional ports like in New Jersey and Boston are congested and they won’t be able to grow.

“Maine is in a good position to grow because the other places will not be able to handle it.”

A small part of Cary’s job is selling Maine itself.

“The Maine brand is well-known in the US, but its not known internationally. We are not a premiere destination internationally,” she said. “We promote Maine at all our trade missions. We cooperate with the tourism industry. We have DVD’s we show at receptions to educate people about Maine and what we have to offer as a destination and a lifestyle. A lot of companies that are based here and moved here were introduced to Maine through tourism. Promoting tourism is good networking but it also furthers the Maine brand.”