Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Officials of the Mississippi Development Authority are joining with Mississippi State specialists to help state furniture manufacturers learn more about export opportunities to Latin American countries.
To be held next week [April 23--27], the one-on-one sessions will address specific concerns and provide additional information and advice on how to increase south-of-the-border trade, said interim director Steve Taylor of the university's Franklin Furniture Institute.
"We are working with MDA to help our companies dramatically increase their exports to foreign markets," Taylor said. "With individual sessions, we will be able to focus exclusively on each company and provide precise information relevant to its products and business."
The meetings have been booked on a first-come, first-served basis. When complete, the schedule will provide a representative of MDA and the Franklin Furniture Institute to the business site or another convenient location.
Named for MSU alumnus and Mississippi furniture manufacturing executive Hassell Franklin of Houston, the Franklin institute is an internationally recognized center of excellence. Providing technical assistance, applied research and business expertise to the state and national customers, it works to assist companies transforming themselves for successful competition under the new rules of today's unified, global economy.
"Whether they manufacture furniture or the components that go with it, we have strongly encouraged industry leaders to take part in this program," Taylor said.
For more information on the information program, contact Rose Boxx of MDA's International Trade Office at 601-359-3045 or rboxx@mississippi.org.
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For more information on the Franklin Furniture Institute, contact Taylor at 662-325-0283 or staylor@ffi.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.