Exposure to US market

by | Oct 6, 2010

Canada

CanadaThe Open Space topic I pitched for Meetup 11 was “Halton Businesses entry to the USA”, meaning, how to we as Halton hi tech businesses gain entry or exposure to the hugely potential of the US market.  Why?  First, I’m convinced that “Halton Biz A” selling to B who is selling to C, who is in turn selling to “Halton Biz A” is not an sustainable economy.  To grow Halton businesses we need exposure, then entry to the US market place.  Halton businesses need to sell internationally to create economic prosperity for our region.  Secondly, I’ve engaged with a Trade Commissioner from our Canadian Consulate in Buffalo.  She has agreed to present to Silicon Halton at our December meetup. The topic thus far has loosely been established as “Exposure to the US Market”.  

entry-to-US

Halton is uniquely geographically positioned in that we are physically close to the US boarder. That’s important.  Of the largest 20 Canadian cities, 17 are within 100 miles of the border.  However, only a small handful have a major US metropolitan city within an hours drive.  From Burlington, it’s approx 45min to the Queenston Lewiston bridge, then another 15min to the Buffalo airport.  From downtown Toronto, it’s at least 90min, too long a drive for most.  We’re so close in fact, that the Buffalo Niagara International Airport has specific information on it’s website for Canadians.     

Additionally, big things are happening in the Buffalo-Niagara region.  For example, Yahoo is building a $150M US data centre in Lockport (about 1 hour from Queenston Lewiston Bridge).  From Buffalo, you are within 800km of 40% of the US population.
We captured some excellent points during the “Halton Businesses entry to the USA” Open Space discussion.  This is going to help me and Mary St. Mary from the Consulate tailor her December presentation to us.  After meeting with Mary in late September, it also became apparent that she and her colleagues possess a wealth of information (not too surprisingly) on this topic and could present for days non-stop to us.  Therefore, the December presentation will be of an introductory format, it will be full of valuable information, with next steps to further explore each item of the presentation.
I’ve distilled down our worksheet to these presentation points which will help frame the December presentation, with the exception of the first point, the “why” question, which will further help frame the presentation.
  1. Why create a US entity?  (I’m soliciting peoples real or perceived understanding of the benefits, see below) 
  2. Programs available to assist CDN companies to setup in US/Buffalo Sales & Marketing opportunities / conferences
  3. Dealing with U.S. Protectionism and “Buy US” 
  4. Top 3 pitfalls for Canadian Businesses in US (I’m soliciting peoples experiences on this topic, see below) Parachuting in to US
  5. High-level steps to create a US presence.
    • Proper way to gain unfettered entry to US for self and staff.  How to convey legitimate reason for entry to US boarder guard
    • How to appear as a US entity (US mailing address, virtual office, etc).
    • Cross boarder shipping.  How to I get my US mail?
    • Does it matter which state I appear or exist in?

Your Input 

Help frame the December presentation.  We need your input to the why and pitfalls questions above.  Add your comments here or in the LinkedIn discussion item here.

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