North Dakota State’s department of agribusiness and applied economics received the 2017 Service to Exporters award for their “support and commitment to the next generation of North Dakota agribusiness professionals and exporters.”
Brandt Holdings, a Fargo-based agricultural and heavy equipment dealership, received North Dakota’s 2017 Exporter of the Year for their “achievements in international expansion and their support to the state’s export community.”
The awards were received at the Global Business Connections Conference, hosted by the North Dakota Trade Office (NDTO), which “seeks to educate, connect and inspire exporters while adding value to their international business.”
The NDTO is a private-public, nonprofit partnership recognized by the North Dakota Department of Commerce as the “catalyst in a collaborative effort among the state’s universities, state and federal government agencies and private export service professionals that provide North Dakota companies with the support they need to succeed in the global marketplace.”
“The Trade Office conducts international market research for North Dakota companies, helping them identify export markets best suited for their products and services. To help companies capitalize, the Trade Office and its network of export service providers offer assistance in every step of the export process.”
The 2018 Global Business Connections Conference took place April 4 and 5 in Fargo, consisting of keynote speakers, panel discussions, breakout sessions and networking for professionals.
Keynote speakers included Peter Zeihan, a geopolitical strategist who spoke in 2016 at the same conference, and Gov. Doug Burgum, who spoke on the importance of trade for North Dakota.
Simon Wilson, the current executive director for the NDTO, presented the awards at the conference. “The GBC Conference brings together North Dakota’s international trade community and recognizes two hard-working organizations that bring additional opportunities for jobs and income to North Dakotans,” Wilson said.
Wilson added, “The awards to Brandt Holdings and NDSU’s agribusiness and applied economics department are a small way to honor their accomplishments and thank them for solidifying North Dakota’s reputation for quality products and people around the world.”
The two awards, Exporter of the Year and Service to Exporters, are presented to North Dakota institutions every year. Exporter of the Year is awarded to a North Dakota business that has “expanded to a new international market, increased its export sales during the past year and supported the larger, statewide effort to expand North Dakota’s global reach.”
Service to Exporters is awarded to a business resource that has “demonstrated exceptional commitment to supporting North Dakota exporters and increasing the state’s overall international business strategy.”
The NDSU Department of Agribusiness and applied economics works to “provide objective economic analysis to support informed decision making in areas of resource allocation, business management and public policy for the people of North Dakota.”
The department also offers an export management graduate-level course that “trains students on international culture, marketing, logistics, contracts and negotiations.” The course is a partnership extension between the department of agribusiness and applied economics and the North Dakota Trade Office.
Coordination between the two institutions expands to sharing research, participating in trade missions, attracting international talent to North Dakota and referring NDSU graduates to the NDTO.