WCCO Belting - Conveying Success All Over the Globe

WCCO Belting, Inc. custom manufactures belts for agricultural and industrial machinery. Based in Wahpeton, North Dakota,  WCCO Belting has used almost every service offered by the U.S. Commercial Service (CS), including the Gold Key Service, the “Show Intel” program, USA Pavilions, Trade Missions and day-to-day export counseling.

Australia, Brazil and Russia are three markets where CS assistance has recently really paid off. In 2013, WCCO Belting conducted a 13-day trip to Australia.  The U.S. Commercial Service identified some potential customers and reached out to contacts to schedule meetings for WCCO Belting. The marathon trip resulted in nearly $700,000 in immediate sales between six companies.

In Brazil, CS initially provided a Gold Key in 2006; and in 2013 CS Brazil and CS North Dakota staff conducted extensive research, outreach and follow-up through the “Show Intel” program at Agrishow, a large agricultural machinery show in Brazil. CS Brazil’s ag machinery specialist Vânia Resende also visited North Dakota in August and September 2014, providing ongoing assistance to WCCO Belting and helping WCCO Belting secure Ex-Im Bank funding, which supported several significant sales to Brazil in 2015.

WCCO Belting has also used the USA Pavilion at Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany. The USA Pavilion allows companies to participate in large international shows via a mini booth, with the added benefit of hospitality services, private meeting rooms, travel logistics, interpreters, extensive market outreach via CS’s global network of trade specialists, a full color catalog and customized market research. WCCO Belting President and CEO Thomas Shorma said, “With the mini booth in the USA Pavilion, we were able to sign a new contract and meet many existing and prospective customers. Significant contributions from the U.S. Commercial Service included pre-show research which helped us develop a plan for how to spend our limited time and who to contact with, and the USA Pavilion, which was a perfect setup and a great investment value for us. It would have been very difficult for us to accomplish what we did without the convenience and benefit of the meeting room (which we used extensively) and the credibility that it reflected by conducting our meetings there.”

WCCO Belting has a long history of export success, such as receiving the President’s “E” Award for Excellence in Exporting in 2010 (the highest export award in the nation), and the company also received the ND Trade Office Exporter of the Year Award in 2003.

For more information on WCCO Belting, Ins., visit their website at www.wccobelt.com and for information on the U.S. Commercial Service, call (701) 239-5080, or visit www.export.gov/northdakota.