Automation Alley Hosts Trade Mission to Brazil

Southeast Michigan Businesses Invited to Participate

TROY, Mich., June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Automation Alley, Michigan's largest
technology business association driving growth in Southeast Michigan's
economy, today announced that it's accepting applications for its upcoming
trade mission to Brazil. The trade mission, scheduled for October 18-25, 2008,
will visit Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
"As the world's fifth most populous nation, Brazil continues to fuel
strong demand for American-made products, services, and technologies," said
Noel Nevshehir, director of international business services. "Brazil is Latin
America's largest market and we're eager to take Southeast Michigan companies
there to promote their products to this newly emerging market."
Targeted industries on the upcoming mission include alternative and
renewable energy technologies; automotive components and systems;
environmental and pollution control technologies, institutions of higher
learning; IT and software applications; industrial machinery and machine
tools; and medical devices and diagnostic equipment.
"We secured more than $7 million in new business and created 27 local jobs
as a result of recent Automation Alley trade missions to China, Central
Europe, and India," said Dan Kocks, CEO of Enterprise Automotive Systems. "The
professionalism and conscientiousness of Alley staff, along with their ability
to arrange meetings with the right companies, was instrumental to our
success."
Southeast Michigan companies interested in attending the trade mission
must be export-ready and conduct business in one of the industries previously
noted. All Automation Alley trade missions include the U.S. Department of
Commerce's Gold Key Service, which provides pre-screened, pre-qualified
meetings based on a company's goals and objectives.
Automation Alley and U.S. Department of Commerce staff works closely to
provide assistance to trade mission participants before, during and after the
mission. Sponsored by Miller Canfield and NextEnergy, the cost to attend is
$5,995 per person and includes airfare, hotel, ground transportation,
matchmaking meetings and other travel-related expenses.
Past trade missions have or will soon result in the creation of more than
200 jobs while generating $130 million in export sales, investment, and
economic development for Automation Alley member companies and Southeast
Michigan as a whole. In addition, the organization was recently awarded the
Presidential "E" Award for Exporting, the highest honor the federal government
can give to an American exporting company or organization.
"Since we began our exporting initiatives in 2001, we have taken nearly 50
Southeast Michigan companies on trade missions around the world," said Ken
Rogers, executive director. "From these international efforts, the
participating companies have had a tremendous impact on the region's economy
-- new partnerships, joint ventures, satellite offices and more. We have
witnessed the remarkable value of overseas exporting and will continue to
provide quality missions that benefit Southeast Michigan's leading technology
organizations."
For more information on the trade mission or to apply, please contact the
Automation Alley Resource Center at 1-800-427-5100 or
info@automationalley.com.
About Automation Alley
Automation Alley is a technology business association driving the growth
and image of Southeast Michigan's economy through a collaborative culture that
focuses on workforce and business development initiatives.
Since its founding in 1999, Automation Alley has expanded to include more
than 875 businesses, educational institutions and government entities,
covering an eight county area and the City of Detroit. Automation Alley
promotes regional prosperity through business attraction services, exporting
assistance, workforce development and technology acceleration.
SOURCE Automation Alley

Michelle Zellen, Automation Alley, +1-248-457-3200,
zellenm@automationalley.com