A Bismarck company, Dakota Audio, will be recognized for its growing global sales during the state’s Marketplace for Entrepreneurs conference Jan. 18 in Fargo.
The U.S. Commercial Service will present Dakota Audio owners Lynn and Julie Mader, with an Export Achievement Award. With five employees, Dakota Audio manufactures high-quality sound systems that can be found in parliament buildings and museums around the world, including Mexico, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Yemen and Albania.
Dakota Audio also is negotiating with two European car companies interested in installing the sound systems in their vehicles, Lynn Mader said.
In the United States, Dakota Audio’s sound systems can be found in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn., and in the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington.
“We are honored to be receiving this award,” Lynn said. “Exporting our products is something that has been a natural development over time.”
The U.S. Commercial Service, a global business solutions unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has helped the Maders navigate export processes. The U.S. Commercial Service, with a Fargo-based international trade specialist, works closely with the North Dakota Trade Office to assist businesses that want to expand their sales in the international marketplace.
“Dakota Audio serves as a good example of what can be accomplished when our businesses tap into high-demand foreign markets,” said Susan Geib, executive director of the North Dakota Trade Office.
Visitors to Marketplace can learn more about exporting when professionals from the Trade Office and U.S. Commercial Service present seminars Jan. 18 at the FargoDome.
Trade specialists also will be available for one-on-one consultations.
For more information about the seminars, or to schedule a consultation, contact U.S. Commercial Service International Trade Specialist Heather Ranck at (701) 239-5080 or Trade Office Communications Director Jeff Zent at (701) 371-5553.