First in the Nation to STEP up

In the early 2000s, then-North Dakota Governor John Hoeven, the North Dakota District Export Council, and senior management of the U.S. Commercial Service agreed that more export support was needed for North Dakota exporters. North Dakota had been one of only 3 states with no U.S. Commercial Service Trade Specialist within the state, and there was no dedicated state trade promotion organization. That is when those leaders worked together to create the North Dakota Trade Office (NDTO), and to

also bring the first-ever North Dakota-based U.S. Commercial Service Trade Specialist into the state, using a special Congressionally funded Rural Export Initiative program. The NDTO facilitates business between North Dakota’s global companies and their clients through programs and services, including Trade Missions, Reverse Trade Missions, and the annual Big Iron Farm Show’s International Visitors Program, and provides educational tools for North Dakota companies and other international business professionals.

Small states often do not have access to an excess of resources, so it only makes sense for federal, state, educational, and private partners to partner closely for the benefit of exporters. North Dakota has shown the value of this close cooperation. In addition to close collaboration between the NDTO, the U.S. Commercial Service, the ND District Export Council and the ND Department of Agriculture on export assistance to companies, one of the biggest needs exporting companies voiced was a need for student interns. The North Dakota Trade Office created an innovative Export Assistantship program in partnership with North Dakota State University, local exporters and the state of North Dakota. This program provides stipends and tuition waivers for qualified students to work at companies.  This program has sponsored U.S. Commercial Service (CS) North Dakota interns consistently since 2005, where students have focused on market research for North Dakota exporters. Lindsey Warner, Director of Operations for the NDTO, stated, “Although data and research are not glamorous, the foundational work these students do for the companies through the RAISE Program helps hone in export markets and real potential for ND businesses. This hands-on experience, we believe, is essential to foster growth for ND students and show them that global business can happen anywhere.”

In 2019, as a market research-driven approach to export strategy gained steam in North Dakota, the NDTO seized the opportunity to incorporate the U.S. Commercial Service’s RAISE market research as a critical and approved expense within its STEP grant program. STEP grants are offered through Small Business Administration (SBA) export promotion grants administered by the NDTO (and also available in other states). Many North Dakota companies began using RAISE research, with the support of a 75% STEP grant reimbursement.  In 2020, when the Rural Export Center was created, North Dakota companies, with the support of the NDTO, were among the first to enroll in the Rural Export Center. In fact, the NDTO support was instrumental in creating the groundwork to show the need and benefit of in-depth market research as part of international business planning. In 2022, the NDTO recognized the Rural Export Center as its Export Service Provider of the Year, with 15 North Dakota companies having used RAISE research before the creation of the REC, and 7 companies using RAISE after the REC was created, making North Dakota the most active RAISE state in the nation. NDTO-supported Export Assistants have been critical to providing the research power needed both before the REC’s creation, and today. 

Lindsey Warner stated that “Companies using RAISE walk away with confidence from the data-driven approach to help them make informed decisions about potential export markets. Sometimes, companies even seemed surprised by the data in markets they may not have even considered.” The companies’ industries range from exporting gym equipment (PRx Performance) to grains (Healthy Oilseeds).

Tara Froemming and Jennifer Tesch of Healthy Food Ingredients stated, “RAISE reports that the Rural Export Center put together for us have been very valuable in terms of understanding the current, real-time landscape in markets that we see the most potential for export business as well as market research and tariff/VAT information provided in the reports. […] In addition, the use of STEP funding has been instrumental in giving us access to this type of information.”