Can Tractors, Combines and Ag Shortliners Travel the World?

Titan Machinery, one of the largest dealers of agricultural and construction equipment in the US, grew into one of the biggest exporters of agricultural machinery in the US with the close collaboration of the U.S. Commercial Service (CS) over more than a decade. Titan Machinery has utilized nearly every service provided by CS, from nearly weekly export counseling with the CS North Dakota office, participation in USA Pavilions at overseas trade shows in South Africa, Germany, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine; to Initial Market Checks and Gold Key matchmaking programs in Paraguay,  Colombia, Uruguay, Russia, Kazakhstan, Australia and others; to the Show Intel market intelligence gathering program at Agritechnica; to regular participation in the Big Iron International Visitor Program and Farm Progress Show; to hosting foreign delegations from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Romania, Mexico, Congo, South Africa, Uruguay, Brazil and Australia. The company has also participated regularly in local North Dakota-based training programming such as ExporTech and Mike Allocca seminars. Titan’s pro-active export work has led to hundreds of new business connections for Titan, and millions of dollars of international sales to over a dozen countries. 

A particularly memorable example of the personalized assistance Titan has received was when Titan Outlet Store’s General Manager Don Aberle had a visa issue entering Paraguay in May 2015, and CS and State Department Staff simultaneously called multiple immigration and airline officials to seek an immediate resolution; and then ultimately in-country Specialist Daniel Oviedo drove 10 hours round trip to pick Aberle up at an airport where he could land. On that same trip, Don received free Portuguese and Spanish simultaneous interpretation from CS North Dakota Director Heather Ranck, who was traveling on the trip; and in-country State Department personnel.

“I was so impressed by the Care Factor of Heather of US Commercial Service; and Daniel Oviedo and Ben Pierce from the State Department to get my visa situation solved,” said Aberle. “I think about how the trip was so worth everyone’s effort as it resulted in $550,000 EXIM Credit Line for a Paraguay customer of Titan. I think about the $430,000 Barko that our Titan Machinery Rogers, MN store sold as a result of our trip.  And I think about how the free Portuguese and Spanish simultaneous interpretations indicated to me that maybe I should have paid more attention in language classes!”

For more information on Titan Machinery, visit their website at http://www.titanmachinery.com/, and for information on the U.S. Commercial Service, call (701) 239-5080 or visit  www.export.gov/northdakota.