Final information session for Futurallia KC 2011 is Thursday, April 14

The countdown for registering for Futurallia Kansas City 2011 forum, May 18–20, has begun, with April 23 the last day to register before the online catalog of participating businesses opens. Futurallia will conduct its final information session and reception on April 14 at the American Jazz Museum, 5:30–7 pm. To register to attend, email info@futuralliakc2011.com.

“Futurallia presents a tremendous opportunity for American SMEs to expand their businesses,” said Jeffrey Ruffner, chairman of the U.S. Industry Trade Advisory Committee for small and minority business (ITAC 11) and president/CEO of MSE Technology Applications, Inc., Butte, Mont. “It provides a very cost-effective means for companies that have not previously exported to meet with multiple new, potential customers in one venue to develop relations and to ink deals.”
           
Jami Henry, manager of a small, woman-owned Kansas City business, Bellewether Ltd., attended Futurallia in Quebec in 2008. “I had never exported nor done any international trade before, but I went to Futurallia in search of a technology firm that could provide a platform for a proprietary online assessment tool. And I found what I was looking for in Kiwi Technologies, Inc., Quebec,” said Henry.

Futurallia KC 2011 has introduced a special scholarship program for the Kansas City forum. Companies or individuals can contribute $1,100 to Futurallia KC 2011 and designate a small business or entrepreneur of their choice to receive that donation to attend FuturalliaKC2011 May 18-20, 2011 at the Kansas City, Missouri, Convention Center (Bartle Hall).The scholarship will cover the cost of all 16 meetings (with interpreters if needed), meals and receptions. This is a way for larger companies in the Kansas City community to help grow some of our local entrepreneurs and the region’s economic future. Donors will be listed on the Futurallia website and in the official Futurallia catalog.

According to information from the US Trade Representative, some barriers to SME exporting are lack of knowledge, costs and the perception that government is not supportive.

“In Futurallia, SMEs can sit down in one place with up to 16 SMEs from other countries at a minimal cost and explore trade opportunities,” said Benny Lee, president of Duracomm in Kansas City. “For example, I met three companies from Africa. I never would have met these companies or moved forward with them had it not been for the credibility that Futurallia brought to bear.”

“Trade and export relationships take time to firm up,” noted Futurallia President and CEO Michel Thomas, from Poitiers, France, who was in Kansas City for a Futurallia orientation. “Futurallia gives SMEs a jump-start on forming those relationships with a view towards international trade.”

Gary Walker, owner of Magic Touch Cleaning, Inc. Lee’s Summit, Mo., said, “Futurallia KC 2011 provides interpreters for the meetings and support in the form of an Experts Village of international trade experts who can advise SMEs to ensure they get some basic knowledge to better prepare them for exporting and other international business activities.”

American small-business owners will see new export and other global business opportunities when Futurallia’s worldwide network of more than 800 small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and entrepreneurs convenes in Kansas City, May 18–20, 2011. This will be the first time Futurallia, a global business forum that meets in cities around the world each year, will hold its annual conference in the U.S.

Futurallia offers participating small and medium-sized companies, or enterprises (SME), up to 16 personalized, 30-minute, pre-selected business meetings with other SMEs of their choice over the three-day event. SMEs and entrepreneurs will come from more than 40 countries.

For more information, go to www.FuturalliaKC2011.com. Photos are available.

Futurallia KC 2011 “Opens the Door to a World of Business.” This global business-to-business forum will take place in Kansas City, May 18–20 and marks the first time a Futurallia event has been held in the USA. With its worldwide network of small-l to medium-sized companies (SMEs) and entrepreneurs, Futurallia brings together hundreds of business owners and CEO from around the globe in a high- energy, fast-paced match-making business format. 

Major sponsors and partners include: Presenting sponsor; Sprint; American Airlines; City of Kansas City, Missouri; Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City; Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; Greater Kansas City Foreign Trade Zone; Husch Blackwell; Intrust Bank; Kansas City Area Development Council and KCnext; Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association; Kansas City Regional Destination Development Foundation; KCMO Aviation Department; KC SmartPort; Mid-America Regional Council; M & I Corporation; National Association of Women Business Owners; North America’s Corridor Coalition; Oppenheimer Bros Foundation; Port Authority of KCMO; Small Business Administration; SNR Denton; United Missouri Financial Corporation; UPS; U.S. Commercial Service; World Trade Center of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; and World Trade Center Association