Small Businesses Benefit from International Marketing Funds

More and more small businesses are looking to foreign markets to increase their product sales, as demand for American food products grows worldwide. In 2007, the value of U.S. agricultural exports increased to $82 billion, the highest amount ever. Over $161 million of those export sales were reported by companies marketing branded U.S. products overseas with the help of the Southern U.S. Trade Association (SUSTA).

To capitalize on the opportunities for U.S. products overseas, over 90 southern U.S. companies applied to SUSTA in 2008 for matching funds to help pay for their international marketing activities. Under the Market Access Program (MAP) Branded, SUSTA has provided over $5 million to support the cost of marketing brand-name U.S. products overseas through promotional activities such as advertising, in-store demonstrations, exhibiting at trade shows, and modifying packaging and labeling to meet import requirements. Beginning August 1, 2008, companies may apply to SUSTA for MAP Branded funding to support their 2009 international campaigns.

MAP Branded is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and administered to southern U.S. companies by SUSTA. To be eligible for the Branded program, companies must be considered small by Small Business Administration (SBA) standards, have yearly sales of at least $100,000, and promote a brand-name product that is at least 50% U.S. agricultural origin.

The 2009 Branded application is available for download on the SUSTA website at http://www.susta.org/services/map_application.html. For more information, contact your state's Department of Agriculture or the SUSTA office at (504) 568-5986.