The association has worked
diligently through a very fast paced shortest month of the year. As we close
the door on our very productive February, we open a window and unleash upon us
the impending March madness.We have all
seen the weather reports of record snowfall and harsh weather across the
country during January and February; personally I am very grateful to be living
in Southern California.Although we desperately needed the rain
recently received in abundance, I am looking forward to our postcard perfect Southern California days as well as, the beginning of
daylight savings and the pleasure of leaving the office at the end of the day
and driving home in daylight.
I began this message pointing
out that not only did we have fewer days in which to accomplish everything on
our “to do” lists, but it was as an especially busy February for our
association.In February we launched our
new, free Members Only Roundtable discussions.Based on the success of these events, we can look forward to presenting
more roundtable events in the future.I
must also take this opportunity to thank our friends at The American Companies
for sponsoring one of our roundtable events.Sponsorships are available for all our upcoming events and if any member
would like sponsorship details please reach out to Monika Wegener and Heidi Dobosi in the FTA
office.
Also in February, the Foreign
Trade Association launched our four week Customs Broker Preparation course. We
wish all the members who completed this course the best of luck if they sit for
their Customs Broker exam in April.
Other programs held in February
included a joint cooperation with our friends at the LACBFAA, for the presentation
of the NCBFAA’s BSA-ACE-ADD program.We
had a great turnout and we were pleased to have representatives from Customs
Border Protection once again reaching out to the trade.
The first of the Public Hearings
regarding the Gerald Desmond redevelopment project was held on Feb. 17th, and
the FTA spoke in support of this
program.
It is great to see so many of
our current members submitting their membership renewals, in fact we are ahead
on our renewals when compared to last year.
It is my pleasure to welcome
the following new members to the Foreign Trade Association: Van Anderson, UCLA Extension;
Ronald R. Gill, Ability Tri-Modal Transportation; Mike Choi, MKC Customs
Brokers International, Inc; and Quincy Crow, student.
The FTA’s March calendar is
filling up and indicates that we are embarking on another very busy month with some
details still being fine tuned and not yet ready to be published. On March 23rd
we will present a webinar program; Best Practices in Export Management and
Compliance Programs; and on March 26th the Foreign Trade Association will
partner with the County
of San Bernardino to
present two panels. One panel will be “How to be a successful exporter”, and
the other will be, “How importing can boost your bottom line”.
Finally on March 30th, the
Foreign Trade Association will present a workshop on Green Technology Opportunities
in China and India.This informative program will outline what
export opportunities exist for US firms intending to enter those markets.
I would also like to remind members
to save the date of May 20th for our annual World Trade Week Luncheon which
will be held in downtown Los Angeles.As always we are looking forward to a great
event this year and the opportunity to again network with our past, present and
new members. I hope to see as many members in attendance as possible.
In closing, I would like to
remind each member that I look forward to your feedback.Suggestions for your association are always welcomed
and as said before, I am all ears.Lastly,
I want to continue to encourage every member to recruit and sign just one new
member in 2010.
Inside FTA
