San Antonio (May 08, 2014) – The International Trade Center at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Institute of Economic Development announced today that it will host a delegation of business development professionals from Guatemala, including the Vice Minister for MSME Development from the Ministry of Economy, Sigfrido Lee, to observe the operations of the Institute and SBDCs, May 13-16, 2014.
SBDCs, established throughout the US by the federal government in partnership with universities and colleges, assist entrepreneurs and business owners in establishing and growing their businesses through a free and confidential suite of advising services. Services include, but are not limited to, feasibility studies, business strategy, financial planning, marketing, production and professional networking. The Centers support new and existing businesses.
The Guatemalan delegates are from: Ministry of Economy of Guatemala, Red Nacional de Grupos Gestores; Promipyme Universidad Galileo; Promipyme AFF; Promipyme Grupo Gestores San Marcos; Promipyme Universidad del Valle Sololá; and Promipyme Centro Universitario de Oriente.
During the four-day visit the delegates will meet with directors and staff of the various centers and specialty centers with the Institute for Economic Development and Southwest Texas Border SBDC Network. On the agenda will be best practices and practical direction to give Guatemala the best chance to succeed in creating economic impact for their stakeholders.
This training is part of the International Trade Center and Institute for Economic Development’s SBDCGlobal program that, with the support of the US Department of State, has been helping countries to develop US modeled SBDC networks in the Americas since 2003.
“Guatemala is in the implementation phase of the process of establishing a network of SBDCs,” said Cliff Paredes, Director of the International Trade Center. “They have already launched pilot SBDCs, and now they will meet with various SBDC and economic development professionals here in San Antonio to learn best practices, and prepare them for the next steps in the implementation plan. We will guide them through the next steps and finally culminate in the Internationalization phase, where they will connect their clients to global business opportunities through our SBDCGlobal.com platform.”
The International Trade Center at UTSA is one of the largest and most successful trade assistance organizations in Texas. It helps companies become globally competitive through technical trade consulting, customized market research and innovative training programs. The center is a specialty SBDC program in the South-West Texas Border SBDC Network. Follow them on Twitter (@TexasTrade) and like them on Facebook (Facebook.com/texastrade).
For more information on the project, visit http://www.sbdcglobal.com/index.php/us/international-sbdc.html
