Happy New Year!
I am excited to welcome you into 2023! And with the New Year at hand, this is a perfect opportunity to reflect on 2022 and brief you on how the NDTO is working for you in 2023.
In 2022, the NDTO supported 38 ND companies with more than $224,000 to support exporting activities across three grants from the Small Business Administration and ND Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant. We also completed five trade missions, a reverse trade mission, hosted dozens of foreign diplomats and visitors, and facilitated 60+ international visitors for Big Iron this year.
We continue to engage with partners across the globe to bring opportunities to ND. This includes building relationships with many international partners and facilitating incoming and outbound visits. Our team is excited to continue the mission of bringing ND business and products to the world. We have a variety of ongoing projects and conversations with governments, international businesses, and other stakeholders.
Starting the year off, our team will lead a mission to Gulfood in Dubai, UAE, and plans are coming to fruition for additional trade missions in 2023. In addition to our other services, we will be rolling out our new Exporter Education Program, which is sure to be informative, but, most of all, fun. Please do not forget our upcoming 2022 Exporter of the Year, Service to Exporters, and Global Ambassador award luncheon. Nominations for the event will be open shortly.
2023 is setting itself up as a phenomenal year for international business and we couldn’t do that without you and your support, industry-specific knowledge, and boots-on-the-ground observations. All of these are invaluable resources to help us support ND businesses. So as a new legislative session will be upon us this year, we look forward to your support and hearing more about how we can continue to serve the great state of ND.
We appreciate you and look forward to another fruitful year expanding ND exports globally.
Drew Combs, Executive Director