State Partner Spotlight - West Virginia Department of Economic Development
for International Market Entry
When trade shows and travel were cancelled due to COVID-19, companies had to creatively adapt their international market strategy. The West Virginia Department of Economic Development (WVDED) staff helped their companies adapt after hearing about the Rural Export Center’s RAISE Research. The WVDED was already planning to use RAISE Research, but with the advent of COVID-19, they accelerated their plan and created a West Virginia RAISE initiative to provide incentives for their local exporters to use international market research to continue with strategic export planning. This resulted in a successful outreach effort that has led to eight WV companies engaging in RAISE Research discussions with the Rural Export Center, leading WV to become a leading state in the nation. Staffed by two International Trade Managers, Caitlin Lizarraga and Enybe Diaz, their Export Promotion program focuses on promoting West Virginia exports. The WVDED staff works closely with their local U.S. Commercial Service (CS) offices who introduced them to the Rural Export Center at a West Virginia District Export Council meeting in 2019. “We felt that RAISE Research could fill in market knowledge gaps we often see in our clients’ export strategy,” said International Trade Manager Enybe Diaz. “We thought that by ranking countries by level of opportunity our clients would prioritize their marketing efforts more effectively, and as result pursue export opportunities in a more proactive way.”
After a year of activity, they are now starting to see some exciting results from the participating companies. Diaz reports that companies using RAISE Research have become more confident in the decisions they are making.
“Companies receive market intelligence to inform their long-term export strategies, but they also receive recommendations on steps they can pursue right away,” says Diaz. “West Virginia has already seen an uptick in participating companies signing up for new export promotion programs such as International Partner Searches (IPS), Website Globalization Reviews and website improvements. Participating companies are also more likely to use services from other agencies dedicated to supporting small business exports, such as EX-IM Bank, US SBA, etc.”