Business as Usual: Building International Business

Transcription: 

Okay, so good afternoon, everyone. This is Audrey Russo, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council. I'm thrilled to be here as I am every day at 12 noon eastern standard time today is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. And our organizations are. And we're going to talk about all things International. And we have two guests that have a lot of expertise. And while many of us, most of us are not traveling internationally, it doesn't matter. It matters that we're all global citizens. And there's opportunities that abound, whether or not we're sitting in Pittsburgh, or we're actually getting in the air and going somewhere else. But I'm pretty excited about our two guests. And they're going to give us some updates and perspective on the things that each of them are working on. Before we get started, I just want to remind everyone that there's a chat, you can ask some questions of our guests, we've kept you muted so that we can not hear anything in your background. I don't know about you, but I have two dogs that tend to you know, periodically go off and, you know, force me to lose my footing in terms of what's happening. But today, we are meeting everyone else. So I'm also giving a shout out so that you can see Jonathan kersting. He's joining us. He's vice president of all things media and marketing. You might know him from 50 stories of summer and tech, five radio, we are now trying to figure out what we're going to do in the winter. We have some exciting things cooking up for that as well. So Jonathan will be monitoring the chat. And I want to give a shout out to him because he has been with the tech Council for 23 years, there's probably no one in the region that knows more about stories of tech than than Jonathan. And today is our 100 and 29th session of business as usual. I actually thought when Brian Kennedy who actually is our our lead Chief Operating Officer at the tech Council, and he oversees all things that are public affairs and public policy and government work that he is our executive producer. So he's the man behind the scenes that actually is working to make sure that everything we do is really relevant to our membership, and that we're talking about things that really matter. So if you don't know him, you really should. So I want to thank Huntington bank, they've been left with us from the onset of this journey. And the journey has been just amazing. As all things and all people it's called innovate and die. That's essentially our theme at the tech Council. And we're trying to make sure that we are being relevant to you. So now I'm going to jump right in. And I'd like to introduce the two key leaders. They're working to help strengthen our region's connection to the world, and really the world back to us but to the world. First, I want to welcome Kate scops. She's the director of global partnerships and operations in the Office of International Business Development for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And then we are going to be welcoming the new executive director of the sister cities association of Pittsburgh. And that's Kathy risko. So I'm going to start with Kathy. And welcome Kathy. And as I mentioned, Kathy is new to this role of the executive director of the sister cities Association. First of all, not only welcome, but tell us a little bit about who Kathy is your background, and then give us an overview of the mission of the organization. So thank you and welcome and appreciate you taking the time with us today.

I don't know thank you so much for inviting me this is this is a really exciting time for the sister cities association of Pittsburgh. And as you alluded to, I came into this role. I'm the inaugural executive director, and I came into this role in May. And so my whole tenure has been during COVID lockdown so it's been a it was very interesting whenever I was interviewing for the job in in January and February thinking I'm so excited there's gonna be so much international travel and of course that was immediately locked down. So my background is I have been a nonprofit professional in the Pittsburgh region for over 20 years. I've worked in a variety of different settings for a variety of different issue areas everything from I added I worked at leadership Pittsburgh for a while I worked at the University of Pittsburgh for a while running an organization called Connect which was about local government reform. I've worked in the in the field of immigration, I've worked in the field of women's health care. So I've been kind of all over the all over the nonprofit map here. And but one thing i've i've always since I was a very young child have done international travel and so the international aspect of of this work was very, very exciting for me. So the mission of Sister cities and if you're not familiar with Sister cities, programs, they're they're out Actually, they exist across the United States and across the world. And the idea is to create a relationship between a two cities. It's the mission is really to create mutually beneficial relationships around commerce, economic development, education and culture. But increasingly, we're also looking at ways to do problem solving internationally. So if you look at COVID, you know, one of our we Pittsburgh has 20 sister cities, almost 21. And, and, you know, Wu Han China is one of our sister cities. So we've been talking to our colleagues and moorhen, about COVID. And what their response has been, we've been talking to our sister cities in in Danang, Vietnam, the same thing and our sister cities, and in Bilbao, Spain, and Sofia, Bulgaria. And it's just been, it's been an exciting time to have these exchanges, the work has been a little bit different, because it isn't, you know, diplomatic missions, meeting people face to face, it's been more like this on zoom. But we still have opportunities to do exchanges. And that's why it's so important right now.

No, right now, sometimes, in some ways, it's been pretty interesting because we can have, we can have some impromptu conversations where we wouldn't have to plan to get out actually on the plane, and take off. And now we can do a little bit more planning so that when we can travel will have built those relationships. So welcome, and hats off to you. So thank you, I want to jump quickly to Kate. And Kate, we have been a proud partner of the Office of International Business Development for many years. And we're still amazed at how many of the tech companies still don't fully understand the full array of services that you provide. Introduce yourself, you've been a friend to the tech Council, which is great. And give us an overview of the office, your role and the services that you actually offer.

Right? Well, thank you for having us here. We you are, have been a great partner to us as well, this time last year, you were hosting us and all of our international reps. So we we value that partnership and your support. As always about me, I am born and raised from Western Pennsylvania. So I love the Pittsburgh area. I'm back all the time with family. But I've been in Harrisburg for about 15 years and spent 14 of them here in the international office here at the State. And we really have a mission to do two main things, which is helping our Pennsylvania companies build, make sell their products and services around the world. And secondly, it's to attract new business opportunity from everywhere into Pennsylvania. And with those investments, we're creating new jobs and developing new technology and innovations where you know, it's creating a great, bigger, better economy here in Pennsylvania. So we're really trying to take a diverse approach. And it really goes down to our partnerships. And we have it's not just us in our little team here in Harrisburg. Although we're all working remotely as we have been since March. We also have our local partners. So we've got a regional export network. in Pittsburgh, it's a Southwestern Pennsylvania commission. But then we have a series of other partners that we work with Allegheny conference, the Pittsburgh Technology Council and so on, to really engage companies and meet and greet and, and figure out how to help a company take the next step to advance their business. So we've got that, but then what makes us unique is that when those questions and things evolve, we also have a network of international representatives around the world that are able to work with you on a variety of products and services, market research, diversification, or filling out paperwork to you know, get your product into a particular market, or identifying different distributor, you might need to help you get your foothold in somewhere new. We've got a variety of services and they're all free and confidential to anyone that is interested. So we are here we're ready to help and we can get into details later. But we've got a great network that's ready to serve all the company's

website so we can make sure that we put both your website's up. What's your website, Kate?

It's HTTP, colon slash slash dc ed.va.gov slash I MTL for international Okay,

good. We'll get we'll get that for sure. And Kathy, you have a you have a website as well. I know that you guys are working on it. But that's okay. You have a website.

We will and hopefully by the end of October, and it will be Sister cities. PGH. org.

Great. So thanks, Kate. for that. Well, we'll dive in a little bit. But right, you're absolutely right. And I think when Brian was talking before the show that there's so many resources that are actually available, that we just have to continue to get the word So really appreciate you being on and we'll talk a little bit more about those services in a minute. So Kathy, prior to the pandemic, the council was offering regular outbound missions that were aimed at strengthening, you know, our ties internationally. And not necessarily only in tech, right. I mean, obviously, at the tech Council, we care about business development, but there are a lot we took more than 20 people to Bilbao, Spain, for example. And I think that was was that two years ago? I think it was two years ago. Yeah, 20. Time is going crazy. Okay, three years ago, there you go. It was a great trip to learn about the impact of the investments in the arts and infrastructure. And Bilbao being a place that really has worked on turning themselves around from the industrial city, and using the arts to drive that not only the community and the city there, but also international as a destination. So it was an amazing learning opportunity. And all of us that went on that trip, and we've been on a lot still talk about it. Can you talk about the things that you hope to learn from these relationships? And what that means for back here in Pittsburgh? And also, are there any opportunities that you might envision, you know, for our members to participate?

So definitely, um, you know, in regards to opportunities, you know, right now, we're in the process of kind of figuring out what the programming is going to be for the next year or two, right? due to COVID. There were there were, there were trips that were planned here, Satsuma city, Japan, which is a 1.3 million person suburb of Tokyo, is a is the sister city of Pittsburgh. And we had plans for students to come to Pittsburgh and do steam and stem programming this summer for for two weeks. And of course, that didn't happen. So we're in the process of actually planning that for next summer. But those sorts of educational exchanges is one big piece of it. We're doing the same with Mount Lebanon High School, and a school in Danang Vietnam, which is also a sister city of ours. Um, so we're kind of replanting those things for the future. We recently had a conversation. And Audrey, you were part of this with the Qatari financial center, we have been in the process of trying to create a relationship with Doha building on the relationship that that Pittsburgh already has through CNU having a campus in Doha, but, but really looking at opportunities for business exchanges. And so we're working on those with the tech Council, and therefore, you know, eventually, you know, obviously, the the your members as well, I think the other big thing that, you know, we can think about is, as I've been watching these businesses usual over the summer, I've been learning a lot more about, you know, these technology companies and industries here in Pittsburgh and finding opportunities for us to connect our organizations here in Pittsburgh with organizations internationally. So we're going for, you know, if you have members who are really interested in perhaps having some of these international conversations around things around smart cities around transportation issues around, we have a whole bunch of conversations going on with Glasgow right now, which is going to be our newest sister city, around un SDG goals. And how do we deal with climate change issue? activities that are happening here? And what are we doing in Pittsburgh? Well, and what may be happening in Glasgow, that's going very well, but we can learn from them. So we're always looking for those sorts of opportunities. So if there are businesses that are involved in some of these policy issues, and want to have these conversations internationally, if you want to reach out to me, I'd love to help create conversations right now. And again, it's easier, you know, the conversation we had with with the Qatari has happened via zoom. We didn't have to plan a whole big trip to go to Doha to have the conversation. So we can still keep doing that in this period of time. And I think there's a lot of opportunities for your members to interact with us.

Well, if I can just jump in on the Qatari conversation with she asked me to join, it became very, very apparent that it was easy for us to figure out pathways, we knew exactly what they were interested in. We have great conversations about ways that we could map different businesses, particularly her interest in financial technology, as well as exploring things and you know, we can sort of make things happen in a really quick way. So my hat's off to bridging the gap on that because it's not just us like I'm, like I mentioned earlier, all the different trips that we've taken, it's also making sure that we can connect people with business and opportunity. companies can't scale if they're only companies or their only customers are in Pittsburgh, right? It's

Yeah, and one one of the things that we're doing too is once people feel more comfortable about traveling We had initially, this October, we were supposed to have the ambassador to DC and a small delegation come to Pittsburgh. We decided October doesn't make sense right now. But we're hoping to maybe be able to reschedule that for early next year. And if so, then one of the things we'll definitely be doing is reaching out to say, you know, Who should we who should be this delegation to meeting with, you know, what businesses? Should we take them to see, you know, they're very interested in Linga, they're very interested in in rapid flow technology, they're, you know, they're interested in a bunch of these different things. So reaching out to partners and saying, What do you think? How should we plan this trip? for them? It's something that also that, you know, members, the tech council can very much engage with us on

here. Yeah. And we'll be partners on all those things. So we're excited. Thank you. So Kate, let's let's I mentioned earlier about doing a little bit of a deeper dive into the kinds of things that you offer you offered, you know, back in the day, we reminisced about, you know, your support of us even going to South by Southwest, that had to be like nine, nine plus years ago, but you've actually offered, you know, grant funding to help companies absorb costs for international businesses, for tech for for trade shows. And does that still exist? And, and what and talk a little bit about the representatives, because we've had, we've worked with you on all the representatives of all the different countries, and they have provided incredible access for companies from life sciences, to, you know, software development to, you know, just an array of companies in their regions. They've been amazing. So can you talk about like, does that still exist? Are we living in it, you know, a different world right now, we know that our revenues at the state aren't what they need to be. But what does exist?

Well, we still have those representatives, and we value them highly. Now we've had to tighten up a little bit just because COVID is kind of, you know, complicated things around the world. So we do have a small group of international representatives there. Normally, they would be sitting in Pennsylvania right now meeting with companies during our annual bringing the world Pennsylvania events. But we had to pivot this year. And so we've done a series of virtual seminars, and there's still three more days left to go. And I'll certainly put that in the chat. They are all free sessions. And some of them are targeted and industries, most are just getting to know the market and identifying ways that you might be able to access some of those resources. But they are wonderful folks that are they are located in market speak the language, they are able to dive into the industry, they've got partners and in various places that they're able to utilize in order to answer the questions that our companies have. We do work with a lot of companies, mostly small to medium sized. So that isn't a requirement. So we're just we're looking for folks that are looking to expand their business around the world. And if we don't have a representative in that particular market, we'll help identify one perhaps through our federal partners. So we're we'll figure out a way to assist our companies with doing their their work. But when it comes to money, we do have some, it's changed over the years. But we have been fortunate that we have been awarded federal dollars from the Small Business Administration. So we have launched a program called the Global Access Program or gap. So there's small grants to call to qualify companies that you know that all the SBA requirements, and it's up to $5,000 a year. And it's typically used for trade shows or missions. If you're traveling to meet with companies, you could use utilize that funding. Because COVID, not many companies are traveling right now, as you would imagine. So we've pivoted and virtual events are now allowed digital marketing, marketing development. So we're trying to find ways where you can still access the international markets, but not necessarily have to leave home right now. So that funding is available. I'm one of the resources as well, as we work with Rena at the SPC, Southwestern Pennsylvania commission, she helps with all of the paperwork that's required. As you know, the feds, there's lots of hoops to jump through, but we will walk you every step of the way to access those dollars should you be qualified. And we really want to see companies use that to make a difference in their bottom line and expand their business. So love to send you more information on that.

And so those trade reps have been really helpful in terms of connecting people with real customers. I mean, I think that's that's the piece. It's not just going to trade shows, it's taking advantage of those, those people that are around the world that actually know the markets. And we've seen a lot of people if there are people here that are in the life sciences world where there's there's trials that are required, you may need to do them outside of the country before you come back into the United States. We've just seen so many examples of that being so successful, through your organization through the work that you're Organization has done. And that's not, then that's business that is actually part of our tax dollars. And you've been able to leverage them, despite all the hard times, I'm thrilled to hear that those services are still around, and that they're still there.

And they can help you identify what might be required in a particular market. And some of those tests aren't required here in the US, but some of them are dewfall as an eligible expense, like Global Access Program. So do you need to get some particular test in Japan, we might be able to help cover some of that costs. So we'll figure out a way and make it work.

Now, and she doesn't mean that we're not saying that. So please, if you're interested, definitely reach out even in just in terms of inquiry, because you can't underestimate that. And with the lack of travel, actually, I think we need you more Kate, than we did before. And maybe just because I think it's easier for us to have access, but you already have those relationships around the world. Is there any particular region of the world that you're seeing some exciting opportunities? Right now? Is there any particular region?

Well, I was just on one of our webinars this morning for bringing the world and it was with a representative out of Singapore. And he was discussing Southeast Asia. And a lot of the manufacturing that's taking place in China, some of it is pivoting into the region, so that there's a little bit more diversification for companies. So we're seeing a lot of activity in Southeast Asia, for instance. But then, of course, you've got the US MCA that was just passed this summer. So activity in Canada and Mexico are also seeing some new changes, because there's some new rules that we can see how it might affect every company. So it just depends on what you make where you're looking to see where you can sell it, or partner with in that particular case. And so it just varies by company. But there's a lot of different options for companies to pursue.

That's right, Kate, thank you so much. I just want to tell everyone that at the tech Council, we have one of our team members, Monica takas, she's actually been the person who's been spearheading our international strategies and actually working with Kate in the in the office there to make sure that we're connected. But some of the things that we've done over the year, which is pre COVID, I just jotted them down. I mean, Denmark, Bilbao, we went to England all you know, all over the UK, for great opportunities we've had to people on the German Marshall fellows, we've been part of the American Council on Germany, we've, I've done work at the, with the embassy in Croatia, we've been to Romania, there's, you know, we've been to Italy, I can just go through the list. And it's really something that's near and dear to our hearts in terms of business development, and making sure that people can see the world because seeing the world and giving perspective really matters, it really matters to business leaders. So Kathy, any final comments that you want people that you think we didn't catch up on that you want people to know about your work ahead.

Um, I think the one big thing is, is, you know, the sister city relationships are really important for our region. They're important for to create this, this exchanges and an economic opportunity, it's important to have the cultural exchanges, you know, and also the educational exchanges. But, you know, like I said, in the very beginning, we technically have 20, Sister cities of those 20 sister cities, to be fair, only five or six are really activated right now. So some of the work I'm going to be doing is figuring out the activation of our current Sister cities, but also at the same time, looking at opportunities to create new Sister cities, that relationships that will really benefit our region. That's why excuse me, my, my board voted to make Glasgow sister city and we're in the process of doing that. I work very, very closely with the mayor's office and with the mayor and his chief of staff and his whole team. So it's, it's a really interesting model for how we're doing our sister cities. But one of the other things that maybe people can reach out to me and you can you can reach me via email. It's Kathy at Sister Cities PGH. org. And like I said, we will have a website soon. But you know, if there are relationships that we need to be thinking about, then we can start exploring those, you know, Malmo, Sweden is one of the places that is that, you know, could you know, at some point in time, we could we could figure out maybe they if they should be a sister city, we've had conversations there. There's a number of cities across the world. So if there's places that you think maybe we should, we should be, you know, creating a relationship, that's also something that my organization is doing, and it's an opportunity for your members to to engage as well.

How many Sister cities are there right now?

So technically, there's 20. And they're all you know, the list is I yeah, there's a list and actually, I'll, I'll give that to you guys so you can share it with your members. But saarbrucken Germany, you know, Miss God is real monascus Cuba Carmel is real Danang Vietnam, you know, we have a we have a sister city and in or we have well, Wu Han China Zagreb, Croatia, scope Macedonia, you know, going as tough Turkey, Sheffield, England, I mean, it's just they're all it's, it's, you know, it's, there's, they're all over the place. So. And like I said, some of them we have activity with and other ones we don't, one of the big things that we are planning, in partnership with UPMC is a medical conference, it was supposed to be that it's happening, it's now we're looking at next fall, because we feel very strongly that this, this conference should be in person, but we're going to be able to have these physicians from all over the world come to Pittsburgh, look at what Pittsburgh is doing, you know, around vaccine research and around, you know, response to COVID, but also around a whole host of different medical issues. So it's an opportunity to bring these doctors here, it's just yet another exchange. You know, one of the things I mentioned before the started was, we were looking at the opportunity for a chef exchange, you know, working with, with with restaurants here in the Pittsburgh region, when we want to do a chef exchange, you know, what other sorts of out of the box kind of exchanges could we think about? Could we do CEO exchanges? Could we do you know, I mean, the world is our oyster in regards to how we want to do some programming around these international relationships. And, you know, I really welcome people's input and thoughts, you know, Sister cities is really very much a startup right now, I am the sole employee. And, and, you know, we're getting, we're doing the infrastructure pieces, like getting the website and everything. But we're also, you know, pulling together this programming, you know, pulling together funding and really kind of just ramping this up. So I have to give a lot of kudos to my board chair, Jim Wolf and his partners, because they spent a couple of years getting everything ready to be able to hire somebody to then take over this work. And so it's been, it's been exciting. Well, it's been in lockdown, it's still doing a lot of fun, you know, work internationally and getting to talk to people across the world and getting their perspective is so important. So yeah,

we can, we should probably start like a Pittsburgh Marshall fund, we should,

we definitely should. Man, we definitely should create these exchanges for people in all sorts of different artists exchanges. I mean, we could just we could do so much. And I and really, you know, one of the things I was I was talking to, a friend of mine about was like, I really want to make sure that when we do educational exchange exchanges, that we are, we're going to be able to provide scholarships for low income kids to have that opportunity. The first time I went to Europe, I was 12. And that was life changing for me. And I really think that kids who, who typically wouldn't have these sorts of opportunities are the ones who so desperately right now so that we can we can make our world a better place and understand each other better.

That's great. That would be like a good, that would be a good post covid. opportunity and commitment. Oh, yeah. So thank you so much, Kathy. And I want to give Kate, first of all, thank you for being with us today. Thank you for being here, then. And in such a good partner, is there anything else that you think that I might have missed in terms of pointing out during this discussion, anything else you want to add? We are here. So please reach out to us use our website. We've got partners in Harrisburg, in Pittsburgh, and around the world. So please, we're here to serve you. So reach out, we'll do what we can to help. Thank you both so much. And speaking of Kwazii International, but it's definitely not the United States tomorrow, we have the Toronto Stock Exchange, and they'll be with us, you can go to our website, you can see what we're doing. So if you're thinking about Canada, you're thinking about Stock Exchange, this is a great way to just get connected and understand the requirements and understand what's happening there. We're always working on international, we see the both of you as partners and an additive to our work. If you have any other questions about international strategies, particularly coming up. Hopefully, at the end of next year, you can reach out to Monica, tap us on our team. And she will, she will tell you about the trips that we have taken the outcomes as well as what we plan for the future. So I can't thank everyone enough. Thank you both Kathy and Kate, stay safe, and continue to do your great work. And we will stay connected and we'll share the resources that you have shared. So that's it for now. I hope everyone has a great day. And we're back here we have a whole list of folks that we are interviewing over the next week or two and we're pretty excited about the diversity that we're bringing to the table in terms of conversations, tech companies and people who are doing things just like caffeine, Kate, to change Pittsburgh and enhance our relationships around the world. So thanks, everyone.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai