Valley City Based FEI Spreads North

FEI, Inc. is a Valley City, ND based fertilizer equipment service company. In a conversation at the 2016 Northern Ag Expo, FEI’s VP of Fertilizer Equipment, Matt Klabo, told U.S. Commercial Service (CS) North Dakota Office Director Heather Ranck that FEI was seeking to expand sales into Canada with an independent sales rep. Heather set up a conference call for FEI with CS Canada’s Ag Machinery specialist Vlad Oujegov, based in Calgary, to discuss how the CS could help. Following that discussion, Klabo decided to proceed with an International Partner Search (IPS) to learn more about the market and identify potential contacts in the prairie provinces of Canada.

Oujegov and his student intern Priska Diarta reached out to 45 Canadian companies, gathering feedback and expressions of interest. CS Canada delivered the IPS to the company in December 2016, with detailed profiles on 10 Canadian companies, of which 2 expressed very strong interest in furthering a dialogue with FEI. After discussions, FEI signed up an independent representative in February 2018. The rep sold multiple units in 2018 and he sold even more units in 2019.

“We are very thankful for the work you did on our project,” said Klabo. “Your assistance greatly expanded our network of contacts and led us directly to someone who was a perfect fit for our company.” 
For more information on FEI, click here. For more information on the US Commercial Service, visit export.gov/northdakota.