In the past few years, the “Peach State” has become a powerhouse for international trade. The Georgia Farm Monitor shares more about how the state’s Department of Economic Development is helping to promote agriculture.
According to Mary Waters, the Deputy Commissioner for International Trade, “We are essentially the sales and marketing arm for the state of Georgia. So, our primary role is to grow investment, to grow jobs all across the state of Georgia, and we do that in a number of different ways...”
The department has multiple different divisions to help them achieve their goals, from tourism, film, arts, and innovation to helping existing industries expand as well as marketing and communications. One of them is an international trade division that helps get Georgia products into global markets.
“The role of my team is to work with companies in Georgia that are really looking to increase their global sales markets,” Waters states. “So, any Georgia business... if they are looking for new international customers looking to diversify their revenue stream, those are the companies we focus on.”
As part of their team, they have representatives in twelve markets that help by providing information to those in Georgia wanting to get their products into new markets.
Josh Jacob, GDED’s International Trade Manager, notes, “We’re able to provide initial market assessments to companies that are in the exploring phase of potentially entering a new market. That means providing information on competitors, pricing, taxes and tariffs...”
Jacob also states that they help with providing business partner identification reports.