Memo to: Foreign-Trade Zone Grantees

From: Dennis Puccinelli
Foreign-Trade Zones Staff

RE: EXPORT ASSISTANCE CENTERS (EACs)
OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Service (Office of Domestic Operations) operates the Export Assistance Center Network with 19 U.S. Export Assistance Centers (USEACs) connecting over 100 EACs in a "hub and spoke" network. The mission of the EAC network is to deliver a comprehensive array of export counseling and trade finance services to U.S. firms, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. As client-driven, bottom-line oriented offices that integrate the export marketing know-how of the Department of Commerce with the trade finance expertise of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Export-Import Bank, EACs have the look and feel of private sector export consulting firms. They have gone beyond being simply a federal partnership by also incorporating the resources of state and local export promotion organizations.

  EACs focus on service to U.S. business clients. They provide in-depth, value-added counseling to U.S. firms seeking to expand their international activities and to those companies that are just beginning to venture overseas. EAC trade specialists help firms enter new markets and increase market share by:

  1.  Identifying the best markets for their products,
  2.  Developing an effective market entry strategy aided by information generated from our overseas offices,
  3.  Facilitating the implementation of these plans by advising clients on distribution channels, market entry strategies and exporting operational procedures, Export Promotion Services (EPS) programs and services, relevant trade shows and missions, etc., and
  4.  assisting with trade finance programs that are available through federal, state and local (public and private sector) entities.

EAC trade professionals counsel clients on relevant program information and market research as a standard part of their operations. Additionally, they facilitate communication between clients and overseas contacts through the most expedient technologies available, such as the Internet and e-mail, phone and fax. The trade specialists are mobile, equipped with laptops, modems and cell phones that allow them to deliver export services at the client's place of business wherever and whenever is most convenient for the client.

  If you have not already done so, I urge you and your operators and users to form a relationship with your nearest Export Assistance Center.