GEORGIA: Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce leaders recently announced a grant program to help small and medium-sized businesses expand their export opportunities. Jen Yun, a program manager at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, said Metropolitan Export Plan organizers are seeking small and medium-sized companies that want to expand their businesses and create new jobs by exporting their products or services.
The MEP’s goal, she said, is to provide the knowledge and resources necessary for local businesses to succeed in global markets. Yun said JP Morgan Chase & Co. has given the MEP a $300,000 grant, $200,000 of which will be distributed as seed money to small and medium-sized businesses seeking to export their products and services overseas. This is part of a national effort called the Global Cities Initiative.
JP Morgan Chase is partnering with the Brooking Institution in Washington, D.C., to focus on economic development in metro areas.The next phase is to reach out to the companies in Butts County and invite them to a group meeting to discuss the logistics of exporting their products,” Butts County Development Authority Executive Director Laura Sistrunk said. “Manufacturing companies are not the only companies defined as exporters. Accounting, marketing, website development and other services are also considered exports.”
If a company is interested in getting into exports, Sistrunk said that by going to the MEP website Atlanta export portal .com a company can find help to develop an export finance plan, marketing plan, supply chain and other assessments to make it export ready. Yun described the website as a “one-stop shop.”Companies can contact the Development Authority of Butts County for more information on how to work with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, JP Morgan Chase and the Georgia Department of Economic Development to gain access to the program.
