The lessons learned by foreign leaders help Kansas companies like Lawrence's Reuter Organ Co. expand overseas.
Domestic companies enjoy a built-in advantage in selling their products overseas, U.S. Commerce Secretary William M. Daley said Thursday.
It's the effect of American higher education.
During a stop at Kansas University, Daley noted that hundreds of foreign government leaders and business officials were educated on U.S. campuses -- not just earning formal diplomas in government or finance, but taking home more important informal lessons in domestic culture and business practices.
That, more than anything, has helped U.S. companies get a foot in the door in developing countries where markets will continue to produce billions of dollars of business into the next millennium, Daley said.
"In the long run, that helps us," Daley told more than 100 people gathered at the Kansas Union.
Along with a handful of other government and business leaders, he's looking to build even more economic strength through expanded knowledge about trade and its advantages.
Daley's "Trade Globally, Prosper Locally" tour met with government officials, traveled to a Harley-Davidson factory in Kansas City, Mo. and made its way to Lawrence before heading to Wichita to meet aircraft workers and farmers.
Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer, who also serves as the state's secretary of commerce and housing, said Kansas businesses needed to build relationships overseas to succeed in today's increasingly global marketplace.
Last year, more than 500 Kansas businesses had $4.5 billion in export sales, most from manufacturing. That's up 40 percent in five years, Sherrer said, but more growth will be necessary if the state's businesses want to remain vital.
"Somebody in some other country may be making your product, and you may be walking down the street one day and see it being sold in your town," Sherrer said. "There's a market force out there."
Albert Neutel Sr., president of Reuter Organ Co. in Lawrence, has been working for 11 years to be sure he isn't left behind.
Since 1988, Reuter has spent more than $100,000 on marketing and travel to build relationships in South Korea. The company has sold two organs there so far.
But the church market remains virtually untapped in a country that is 60 percent Christian, and where 90 percent of the population attend church at least once a week, Neutel said. Reuter's latest target: An evangelical Methodist church with 150,000 members that is building a 52,000-seat sanctuary.
Its organ budget: $2.5 million, which could pump up the Lawrence company's market share.
"They'll probably have 10, 15 other companies bidding," said Neutel, whose company now does less than 5 percent of its estimated $3.5 million in annual sales outside the United States. "May the best man win. That's commerce."
-- Mark Fagan's phone message number is 832-7188. His e-mail address is mfagan@ljworld.com.
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