With the help of the U.S. Department of Commerce and expos such as the one in Nogales, Sonora, connecting U.S. suppliers with Mexican manufacturers is becoming increasingly easy. On November 16, the 2011 Nogales Supplier Expo was held in the Mexican state of Sonora in an attempt to connect assembly plant representatives with suppliers in the region. U.S. officials from the Commerce Department saw a chance for American suppliers to compete with their Mexican counterparts by bringing them down to meet potential business partners at this expo. So, the U.S. Commercial Service decided to transport one hundred suppliers to the Nogales expo, in hopes that American businessmen and women can reap some of the benefits of the growing maquiladora industry in Mexico, which now includes approximately 110 assembly plants.
Matt Baker works for the U.S. Commercial Service and thinks of himself as a kind of matchmaker. Chris Schlesinger, owner of a business that supplies products to the metal-finishing industry, was looking to expand the market of her small operation and had her eye on Nogales. She contacted Baker and he got her on the bus to the 2011 Nogales Supplier Expo. Schlesinger was delighted. “To have a matchmaking, networking event that brings the supplier and the end user together, that is something I view as a gift to any business on a growth curve,” she said.
Similar government arranged trips have taken busloads of businessmen across the border both in 2008 and 2010. The idea of this type of supply chain tour sponsored by the U.S. Commercial Service arose out of a meeting with Nogales officials who informed the U.S. that they were having supply issues. The Commercial Service officials jumped at the chance to fill this need with American suppliers and started getting serious about connecting small business owners with Mexican assembly plants.
Schlesinger reported that she made three promising contacts from the expo and is hopeful that one will turn into a lucrative business partner. With many similar success stories coming out of the latest trip, the U.S. Commercial Service is looking to expand and improve upon these types of trips in the future.
