Our calendars can get pretty full around the holidays as invitations start rolling in from our friends, family and social groups. Most of us must become quite selective as the year draws to a close, and we find ourselves hustling and bustling to meet all of our obligations.

Alto Vineyards, Southern Illinois' first winery and commercial vineyard... [more]  

View their site here. 

Michelle Breslin works as an International Trade Specialist at the Illinois SBDC International Trade Center (ITC) at Southern Illinois University. Michelle began with the SBDC in October 2013 in a temporary capacity and came on board fulltime in January 2014. Prior to this position, Michelle was a contractor for Customs Border Protection, a company that monitors incoming truck cargo from Mexico and Canada.  She is a graduate of the University of South Florida in International Studies and is fluent in Spanish.  Michelle is a Customs Broker and a Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP).  An entrepreneur herself, she and her husband own a golf course.  She resides in Pinckneyville with her husband, Dan, and has twin, 14-year-old daughters.

Michelle's job entails finding and assisting clients to begin or improve their exporting of products or services in the Southern Illinois region.  Recently, Michelle had a great opportunity to attend an International Trade Show in Bogota, Colombia.  The State of Illinois Office of Trade and Investment (OTI) led a group of ten Illinois small-to-medium size businesses to the INTERNATIONAL FAIR BOGOTA 2014, the largest industrial trade show and exhibition in the Central American and Caribbean regions.   Several of these business have never attended a trade show outside the United States and took advantage of the ISTEP program the state of Illinois offers.  This program assist Illinois companies attend trade shows by partially reimbursing them for their travel and hotel cost; Provide trade show booth space and exhibit products; arrange matchmaking  appointments to meet prospective partners, agents and distributors; provides interpreter services and group ground transportation to programmed events.

Michelle was able to assist the Illinois companies with translation, as she is fluent in the Spanish language.  This really came in handy when the delegates had two full days of matchmaking appointments.  Her staff was able to find and "vet" potential partners, distributors, agents, who were interested in doing business with one of our Illinois companies.  

It has never been easier for Illinois companies to expand globally.  International Trade shows offer terrific opportunities for growing and establishing global contacts and clients.  Businesses will gain exposure to many potential international suppliers and colleagues, distributors and more all in one place. Give Michelle a call if you would like to learn more about exporting.