Join two of Pennsylvania’s authorized trade representatives to Germany as they provide an economic overview of the market conditions across Germany and a quick update on some of the major conferences that have been made more accessible through virtual platforms.
Finally, we’ll discuss the state’s $700,000 program to help provide grants to businesses seeking to grow their overseas trade activities. Don't miss this opportunity if you're looking to expand your products and services into Germany.
Transcription:
So good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to business as usual. This is Audrey Russo, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council thrilled to be here. Today we have an international flair that's focused on business. And I'm pretty excited about that we actually you get a chance to listen to our guests, we packed with information and things that are very useful to Pittsburgh based companies as they start to think about the world, and in particularly Germany and some of the other countries adjacent to Germany. So I want to thank Jonathan kersting. As always, he is a partner in the work that we do in telling stories and marketing. He's Vice President at the tech Council. He's also going to keep his eye on the chat to make sure that if there are any questions that we can make sure that we intertwine them into our conversation today. Thank you goes also to 40 by 80. That's a wholly owned subsidiary, a nonprofit of the Pittsburgh Technology Council. And you're going to learn in probably pretty soon more about some of the work that we're doing in apprenticeships, as well as the work that we've been supporting for a long time in terms of education and entrepreneurship. So we have muted your microphones, this is not an opportunity for a for you to shine the light on your company. This is really to focus on our guests. So on that note, I'm going to bring forward two individuals. This is David, and Francisco wigger. Rick, and they are joining us today. So I'm pretty excited about the conversation that we're going to have. And before we get started, what I really like to do is just learn a little bit about their background so we can start Francisco, would you like to come? Tell us a little bit about your background and your experience, and then we'll pass it over to Devitt.
Thank you so much. Pleasure to be here today. My name is Francisco veganize. from HP International. We are Pennsylvania authorized Trade Representative office in Germany. I'm with hp for for five years now, assisting Pennsylvania companies and entering the German market. Before that I did my bachelor's degree in wine business management and continued with a double degree in international business and business management. Also in Australia at the University of the Sunshine Coast, stated in Heidelberg, Germany, which also has a strong relation to the US since we hosted the US military for a long time here in Heidelberg. It's wonderful. So
where were you born and raised?
actually born and raised in Heidelberg and travelled the world but then yeah, but now working on an international level,
which is wonderful. But in here we call this boomerang. boomerang. So, tray Yeah, and bag. Right? We love the Australian. Similarly there. Okay, so David muhc, thank you so much for joining us today. How are you doing? And tell us a little bit about yourself.
Thank you very much. Yeah, I'm a colleague of Francisca. We are one company, HP International, but I'm based in Berlin, and I'm working on the foreign direct investment investment side. So basically, in the company, My task is to look for companies from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, I'd like to explore the American market, I'd like to invest in Pennsylvania, and to help them to land here. Hopefully, also in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is a really strong asset for us. So I have another perspective on the topic more from Germany into the US, but still, it's very much the opportunities are going both going in both directions. So that's why I'm also here today. My background is I studied economic geography with a Middle Eastern focus. And I did some FDI analysis on the Arabic Gulf states around 10 years ago. So that's what I came to the company HP international started with promoting actually the city of Moscow and the first two years which is totally different to Pennsylvania. And I was very lucky to get into the Pennsylvania business because after Crimea crisis, nobody wanted to go to Moscow anymore. So basically, that's, that's where I come from, and I'm, I lived in Berlin my whole basically, yeah, let's say 25 years, but I was born actually in Italy, Rome with my parents and came to Germany, but my parents are German. So they just moved there came back and now I'm here in Berlin.
Well, it is wonderful to have the both of you. I am telling you, just having these international conversations. Seeing people and traveling the world is one of the things that has really gotten me in over this last 13 months. And it is so important for us to be connected from a business standpoint, from a social stand from, from a political standpoint, all of us makes us so much richer in terms of who we are and how we contribute to the world. So I'm very excited to just have you on the show just overall in general. But now let's sort of talk about what your work is. So I guess we can start back with you, David, we can talk about you know, part of your charge is to actually you mentioned to recruit businesses to set up locations here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. So can you talk about that work? Can you just can we get a little bit more into the details of that? What's the, you know, an overview the state of the German economy as well? I know that all of us are experiencing iterations of lockdowns, but why don't we just start with you on that?
That's right. I mean it's tough situation at the moment but we are hopefully getting better also in Germany with vaccinations we are slow but it's getting faster. So that's maybe our current status. We are getting more optimistic nowadays. Nice. Um, so but what is my my normal job I mean, I'm, I'm also very much working on trade shows with with franciska. But I'm looking for the companies that are located there and try to bring them to to Pennsylvania discuss the US business with them, especially with Pittsburgh. I did a lot of like sector focused events, for example, in in November, we did an AI conference with Pittsburgh regional Alliance and with the state of Baton Britain back Economic Development Agency. So this was entered with the Canadian region. So it was like a three countries state AI conference. So we discussed a sector topic that is interesting, where Pittsburgh is really a hotspot, very strong and tried with the sector discussions bring companies discuss discussing opportunities and making them aware of Pittsburgh and Germany, it's not so easy, because everybody looks at New York, Silicon Valley, Boston, and some of them don't even know Pittsburgh, only maybe the old Steel City image. So this is this is developing now. And we are trying to build on the AI autonomous vehicles stories that are now coming out of Pittsburgh.
Also, what do you from where you sit? What do you think are some of the fastest growing industries?
In Germany? Yeah, this there's a lot of change at the moment. I mean, in Germany, we have our biggest three industries, our manufacturing industries, our chemical, automotive, and machinery, robotics. So basically, there's a lot of change in all of all three of these industries. And automotive is, I mean, you all know the big players, but they have a lot of problems at the moment, because they are slow with immobility, they are slow with autonomous vehicles. And they are really afraid of Tesla, which is now coming into Berlin, you hear them is that they will lose this race. So that is not maybe like a winning story, but maybe something because they have money. And they have to at the capital. So folks on board, I think I bought invested in Argo AI in Pittsburgh, and they tried to tap into these networks and an r&d here. And I think the same goes for all the suppliers like Bosch was also here and and, and other other sectors that are related to the automotive industry. So basically, Germany has automotive industry and the machinery is also supplying the automotive industry. So this probably the most important one for us. And now it's changing, we'd have to see where it goes.
Maybe, and obviously COVID has definitely caused some paralysis in the economy similar to here. I haven't imagined it but there has to be industries that have done well.
During med tech pharma, for example. Yeah, so we see this and we see this also in Pennsylvania, we had one of our biggest successes was factory for PP masks. Last year in in eastern Pennsylvania. This is a company called raiga. And and so they invested here and got a big I think they want a big contract with the US government and we have other companies that are supplying the vaccination industries crop for example, it I think it's in York area or somewhere in this in this part of Pennsylvania, they are they producing the like the glasses of packages for the vaccinations and for the for the doses so they have, I think 1/3 of the world business. So they are doing very well.
That's great. That's great. So let's flip over to Francisca. And again, thank you so much for being candidate and telling us a little bit about your background, your charge goes beyond working to attract companies to Pennsylvania, you actually help Pennsylvania businesses to capture clients in Germany, which is something that we love, right that we totally love. So would you please talk about some of the ways that you can support businesses and do support businesses so that people on this call can understand, you know, what these opportunities are?
Yeah, of course. So as one of the authorized Trade Representative officers of the state of Pennsylvania, we are providing a range of services actually, and always starting with a kickoff call an initial call with our Pennsylvania company to really define their level of experience and exporting and internationalization in order to provide customized services to them. So for example, if we start working with new to export company, the main task would be to provide market information sector specific information, and market intelligence, but also important input on EU directives and EU import regulations and also specific information on the German market relevant Association, and you name it. So lots of input and information to really create a decision making base to further develop the market. Whenever we have, like a company that is more experienced in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, or Italy, that the markets we are covering for the state of Pennsylvania, we really look into their experience, and maybe even existing customers, distribution partners or clients, too, provide Yeah, real connection to potential business partners or distribution partners, or even provide onside assistance at trade events or business travels, or a company background check if they are close to a contract or within negotiation phases and contract. contraction. Yeah, so it's very like right wide right range of services. We are always happy to start working with a new company. But we are also enjoying very much working with a Pennsylvania company, for example, on the German market first and then start going into the Swiss and Austrian market to further assist them and support them in their international business development.
So are there any clusters? I mean, Mark Freeman has asked a question. They're saying Are there any examples over the last two to 10 years of companies, but I can tell you that in life sciences, there's been a tremendous amount of Pittsburgh based companies that have actually went after their CE mark and gone through certificate, you know, for human clinical trials in Germany. So can you talk about?
Yeah, definitely. So of course, we are mostly providing information on relevant clusters, but also connections and introductions with those on SSI certification. Also, in regards to the medical and healthcare sector, we are happy to provide further details on the new EU MDR that is taking, like we'll start this may it actually got postponed from last year to two COVID-19. Um, but yeah, I mean, there are many, many sectors in Germany that really got a push from digitalization in general, mega trends like sustainability, renewables, and all digital. Yeah, topics and ICT but also cyber security, which is also a huge topic, I believe in Pittsburgh. So whenever we have like a question or requests or a need for assistance, we usually try to really customize our service and assistance to our Pennsylvania companies and exporters'.
Yeah, we've had long history here with big companies here that still like covestro and buyer and, and lanxess there are many of those big companies that have taken root in Pittsburgh and the relationships have continued but same was small. So go on.
Yeah, I mean, especially for the small and medium sized companies. I think the Export Assistance provided by the Trade Representative offices around the world are really valuable resource to to further develop markets and of course, in particular, the highly competitive German market in Europe.
Well, you know, if I go back to the VB You know, we've been following like all of you have, you know, the issues of supply chain right everything that's happened during COVID. And even most recently, through the Suez Canal, it's just been, you know, paying attention to the supply chain is that the, you know, it's at the executive level of being cognizant of how that's affecting most companies. Right. So yeah, particularly people that make stuff and rely on all these interdependencies. So, you know, Germany has been faced with supply chain disruptions and other industries, right, many industries as well. how might this be an opportunity for us here, across Pennsylvania and across all these clusters to develop further business relationships?
This is a good question. I mean, if the supply chains are interrupted, somebody can maybe Yeah, substitute them somehow. But I think we see a trend in like regionalization, so that if you don't get your supplies from China, you try to get them from Eastern Europe. So I mean, that means for both directions you have to locate. So for the German companies, they have to locate in the US because there's also regionalization. And all the companies from Pittsburgh, they somehow have to be more present in in Germany. So it's coming from trade more to the investment side, I would say, like this.
Are there any areas? Are there any particular market sectors that sort of, you know, that, that stick out for you that there are some real opportunities that we should be thinking about, as we're having this conversation now?
I mean, it's a moving target, I would say, I mean, definitely autonomous vehicles, everything on this where Pittsburgh is wrong, because here, the Germans are not strong, and they want to get stronger, and they're looking to America. So I would say this is one AI as like the high tech stuff, robotics where Pittsburgh was really strong and has great companies. The more traditional industries, I'm not sure, actually. But those are your high tech. Right?
So those are good examples. We just have to do a better job of making sure that people understand Pittsburgh, right? And that we're not Silicon Valley. And that's a good thing.
Yeah, right.
Right. And that's a good thing. So let's, let's jump back over to Francisco and talk about you help companies, right, you help companies by facilitating the engagement in international trade shows, for example. So given how many of these trade shows have shifted into this, zoom, you know, teams world, right, everything has changed? how, you know, how many are actually offering, you know, free attendance? Are there programs that you would recommend? Do you see any changes coming down? You know, coming down the road? It seems like there's good opportunities?
Yeah, definitely. So Germany is like historically, not like a networking, business culture. And Germans are usually not really used to having zoom calls or video calls. Because the size of the country is just way smaller than for example, the US and people can just do a one day travel. So Germans really need that the trade shows to connect and network all the time. We see lots of trade shows now putting into like a digital format, such as Hannover Messer, Hannover show, which actually takes place this week in a digital format, leading trade show for for all industrial topics and the digital transformation and German term industry 4.0. But for example, medica, as the leading trade show in medical devices, and healthcare, was also put into a digital format last November due to Corona. And I mean, in our opinion, it's actually not a bad thing. Because, yeah, you still have to be active somehow, even if trade shows cannot be in like a physical format. We provide assistance to Pennsylvania companies, no matter if it's an in person, normal regular trade show or if it's a digital trade shows. So we are happy to assist in finding the right target group, potential business partners, distribution partners or cooperation partners in general, and really assist in also connecting with them and introducing our Pennsylvania clients. And we are scheduling meetings or just yeah, provide whatever assistance is needed.
It's and you represent not just Germany, right. So you can you talk about that. And
yeah, so for Pennsylvania we cover Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy since one of our managing directors is also half Italian and very experienced in the Italian business culture which is also quite different to the German one and especially Also in the north and south, difference in Right.
Right, absolutely. So, you know, a lot of businesses are not aware how extensive Pennsylvania's network of international trade reps really is. And can you either have you talk about this? Or, you know, like, what, where are the offices located? What are the services? I know Jennifer's on the, on the call, and maybe she can jump in and talk about this and introduce yourself. But there are a lot of resources that even today that are still available, and maybe Jen, we can talk about that.
Or Thanks. Thanks, Audrey, we really appreciate the opportunity to talk with you today. Yes, and this is a this is a great segue, actually Francisco mentioned about the services that her team provides. She her office in Germany is one of 11 Trade Representative offices that Pennsylvania maintains worldwide. So all over the world, we have consultants under contract like HP, who are tasked with helping our Pennsylvania companies find those international business partners. So we have offices in Israel in South Asia and Korea and Canada, Mexico, other parts of Europe, India, I won't list them all. But I guess the takeaway here is if there are markets around the world where you're interested in building those partnerships, please get in touch with us. And we can help connect you with our international consultants. And look at the website, you can type that into the chat. I will do that. Thanks. I also wanted to just quickly mention, Francisca talked about trade shows, and the importance of that. And you know, we're all as you mentioned, ardrey, ready for travel, when the time comes and as as everyone on the call and is looking forward. And considering what's next for their business, we did want to mention that our office maintain has a grant program using some federal funds from the Small Business Administration that can help small and medium sized companies offset some of those International Business costs, travel costs, in part, trade shows right now as maybe companies are figuring out their international strategy, they can use the grant for developing their website doing some translations, okay, maybe doing some compliance testing to get international certifications like CE mark. So that funding is available now. And we encourage companies to to learn more about it, I will also put the link in the chat toolbar, you can learn more about that. But please don't hesitate to get in touch with our office as as you know, you as members are considering your business strategy internationally moving forward, we look forward to assisting them.
So Jennifer, are you seeing any trends in Pennsylvania? Both, you know, outbound I mean, listen, I don't want to use the word reshoring. But, and but we've seen, you know, the broken supply chain, certainly in folks in Germany have and all across the EU. And we've seen it in the United States, you know, as as you know, as soon as COVID hit. I mean, if people weren't essentially hoarding, you know, what they needed at the onset, you know, systems became broken. So, are you seeing any shifts there? Are there anything at the macro level that maybe you could share in terms of some trends? Again, I'm trying not to use the word reshoring. But for lack of, you know, a better term, I'm using that. Yeah. Well, I
think generally looking at it, and taking what we're hearing from, from companies, certainly early on, those disruption in supply chain, particularly inputs into finished goods was an acute problem. And small and medium sized companies, you know, have, they can't just kind of shift gears as quickly maybe as a larger company that may have other operations. So there was, I think, some some serious re configuring of those supply chains. And we have been hearing from companies that are saying just that, like we're looking for partners and other parts of the world now, where we can diversify not only our customer base and our supply chain, but our partnerships, like like all of us, you know, as many connections as they can make internationally. And that is certainly a trend that we expect as we're able to move around a little bit more right? We do expect that to to continue.
So if just got you know, peeling back a little bit, tell us about like, what kind of money is available like just let's get into some brass tacks what you know what is available, what can you use it for, you know, who's eligible and obviously will point people to the right information, but just Tell us a little bit about what is available.
So the the grant program is called the Global Access Program. It's administered by our office, the Office of International Business Development, but it's federal funds from the Small Business Administration. So qualifying companies do need to first qualify as a small business, and there's a couple of other federal government forms to fill out. Sure. We ask that companies tell us what, you know, explain to us their project, what would they like to do? What is the benefit to their company? Do they expect? And how much money do they think they're going to need to execute that project. And that's in the form of a pretty simple application, we review that and then if approved, companies can receive up to $10,000. Oh, at a 75% reimbursement rate. And that's per company per award period. So for now, from now, until September 2022, we're looking at projects. So right now, I know, we might not be moving around so much. But if you've got some, your eye on something, maybe in early 2022, let us know, if right now you're looking to develop your website or to the internationalization that I mentioned, those, you know, those kinds of projects can also be funded. So what we'd like to do is have a conversation with a company that's interested to figure out what their bigger plan is, and then we'll try to plug that money in, you know, where we can to make sure they get as much money as possible to support their strategy.
So do you or do you organize US Department of Economic Development, organize any missions that companies can join? I realized this is COVID. And I know that we've partnered with the folks over the years. But do you do that?
We do. actually starting off next week, we'll be doing a virtual trade mission to Korea, with our consultant there. Okay, so we
can share that with folks.
Yes, I can share some calendar of events as well. Coming up in the summer, we're doing a virtual mission into Africa. As a partner organization, we're also doing a virtual mission into Mexico with a partner organization. And
you'll vet the companies before they join.
Okay. Yes. And and we'll work with the company to determine if that you know, which markets in Africa, for example, have the best prospects. Before we go into doing business matchmaking, the same in Mexico will talk with the company and do some pre pre event evaluation to ensure that it's a market, you know, that has potential. Francisca mentioned medica medica is the largest trade show in the world for medical devices and equipment. And we'll have a we're planning a Pennsylvania pavilion at that event where companies in that space can exhibit with us at a discount that still planned to be in person. So fingers that
is that when is that? What is that? That's a metal November. Okay, so you're planning for that in person. That's a big, big event. I know, I remember that.
Yes, that's a big one. And again, Francisca, and the team in Germany will help companies to do some pre show promotion, and figure out how to, you know, reach out to companies and do some appointment setting around that show. We also for that one, because it's large, we do tend to pull in our other representatives from Europe to kind of do a European approach for exhibiting companies. So those are just a few of the events. But we can assist companies individually, at any time. So the services of our teams are available. And most of those services are the consulting services are available at no cost.
Every every time we connect with you folks, at the tech Council, it's always outstanding, doesn't matter what so people who are listening will do a good job of trying to get the word out. But people who are listening, this really is the real deal. They're here to to really help. That's what motivates these folks. And that's what they're measured on. And it matters. And I do think that this opportunity virtually to build some relationships while that's not the best thing, it's it's a nice icebreaker, it's a nice way to just understand the view of what's happening across across the world, and to continue to be a global citizen. You know, I mean, I think that's, that's important. I think many of us just become so insular. And we've, you know, we're gonna come up for air and these relationships are really important. So, so David Francisca Is there anything that you think I overlooked in asking you anything, Jennifer, that you think I should have pointed out? I mean, some people have said Do we know anything about um, you know, the German chamber? Yes, we all we know them. There's, we're sister city, we know that will revitalize that as soon as COVID you know, starts to not be a number one issue in our lives. But there are lots of opportunities that I think we can take advantage now. But tell us, you know, as we wrap up, is there anything that you wished that I would have asked that you think Do you want to?
I'll defer to my colleagues? I appreciate it, Audrey. Thanks very much.
No, I appreciate your work, anything to bed, anything Franciscan?
Everything's fine. I mean, actually, on the questions in your chat, I mean, I'm happy to help on this with sub work. And actually I was not aware of about the sister city agreement. And and we are looking at these because there's Philadelphia, Frankfurt, which are bigger cities that are working together. And sub Britain was very small. But if there's, I'm happy to look at this. But I don't actually I'm not aware of any stories. So it would be for me, it's a great hint. Actually.
That's great. That's great. Well, we are very honored that you took the time with us today. What time is it? where you are right now? Let's expand. That's what I thought, Okay, well, it's not midnight. So we appreciate that stay safe. And we can still do this work virtually. So that's really the message here, you can still do this work virtually, there's opportunities that are right at our right at our fingertips, that are easy to take advantage of. That's our work at the tech councils to make sure that people are getting access to new business opportunities. Of course, you know, we'd love people to set up shingles in Pittsburgh, and we appreciate you talking about Pittsburgh in a way that people understand that it's it's not Silicon Valley, it's not New York, and that's okay. That's okay. And that's a good thing. And we really appreciate you being great ambassadors, and thank you for the work that you do at DC D, Jennifer and, and I know these are tough times, but we got to keep staying connected. That's why we continue to do this daily show, just to make sure that people are feeling connected. And I so appreciate just being connected with people around the world because I can find myself just becoming very insular. And that's not good for business. And that's not good for me as a person. So I want to thank you all for being with us today. Thank you everyone for joining we will keep we will share this information. And we have today is you know the days blur for me, I have to check in with chocolate first thing always Wednesday or Thursday and
Thursdays me really fun because we have Karen Feinstein, the CEO and president of the Jewish health care Foundation, stopping by making some big announcements about the partnership that we have, covering the future of healthcare, really exciting stuff,
you know, actually Francisca. And, David, if you could log in that what that might be one that you might be really interested in, because there's just so many things that are percolating in that space that really that you might not think about. So I want to thank everyone. Thanks, Jonathan. appreciate everyone being here. Stay safe, and we'll talk to you soon.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. Take care.
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