This month, greater:SATX officially launched the 2024 Export Leaders Program which offers international business development assistance to local businesses with the ultimate goal of growing jobs in our community. The 2024 cohort consists of eight companies who, throughout the nine-month program, will work on identifying and engaging with business opportunities in Mexico.
We are excited to welcome the new cohort:
The program started with a training day and ended with a meet and greet with program partners. The training portion of the day focused on exporting fundamentals and learning about exporting resources. The team from the UTSA-International Trade Center provided the overview of export planning, and the cohort was also introduced to representatives from the U.S. Commercial Service, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and the Minority Business Development Agency Business Center, who all provide various services to support companies that export.
The Export Leaders Program is funded through a J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation grant. During the meet and greet, J.P. Morgan Chase representatives and other supporters had the opportunity to meet the eight companies participating in this year’s cohort. Our partners turned out in full force as representation from J.P. Morgan Chase, the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the San Antonio Manufacturers Association, the City of San Antonio Global Engagement Office, and CCN Law Firm were there to welcome the company owners and sample their products.
The cohort participants will next participate in a business development trip to Monterrey in February. Planning is underway for each participating company to have introductory business meetings with potential clients or partners.
Throughout the program, greater: SATX will continue to support our Export Leader companies to develop and scale their export strategies that in turn will help grow their businesses here in San Antonio.