RCEDA 8.5x11 Report d3

Phenix Fire wins President’s E-Award The Office of Foreign Trade has had the pleasure of working with Phenix Technology Inc. for several years. This close partnership has helped the company grow into an international success. Phenix has been producing fire helmets for 45 years but focused mainly on the domestic market until 2013. Through our College of Foreign Trade program, we trained Phenix staff in exports and introduced the company to other resources offered by state and federal agencies to help them sell overseas. Ranging from Mexico to Thailand, the company now has been able to go beyond and out of the ordinary with its exports and new opportunities to grow. That growth was recognized this summer when Phenix won the prestigious President’s E Award. Presented by the U.S Department of Commerce, this award recognizes the company’s significant contribution to the growing field of exports and trade of the country. Representatives from the offices of Supervisors John Tavaglione and Kevin Jeffries presented the company with a proclamation in honor of this recognition. Export TradeAssistance Partnership (ETAP) Office of Foreign Trade partnered with the Small Business Administration and California Centers for International Trade development to present the Export Trade Assistance partnership (ETAP) program. The ETAP program is a series of workshops designed to give businesses exclusive strategies, insights and a ready network of contacts necessary to successfully expand sales globally. The five-week program provided companies with information on global business opportunities for small businesses, international trade finance andmethods or payment, international shipping and legal issues and how to use e-commerce for exporting .

Here is what Angel Sanchez, Director of Global Operations with Phenix had to say about our College of Foreign Trade program and how it helped his company: “ The College of Foreign trade was a catalyst that put us on the right path towards an effective exporting program. In a very short period of time, we have been able to grow internationally as a company and the results have been tremendous. It was one of the tools that helped lead us to the growth that resulted in Phenix being recognized with the Presidential E-Award for excellence in exporting.”

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