Join the SBA as we celebrate Manufacturing Day with a webinar focusing on the tools and services available to assist your export success on Thursday, October 1, 2020. We will feature three U.S. small business manufacturers that are overcoming today’s challenging market by effectively tapping into SBA, the Export-Import Bank, and the U.S. Department of Commerce to support their global sales. Manufacturers have a vital part to play in the U.S. economy. They employ more than 12 million men and women, contribute $2.36 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, have the largest economic multiplier of any major sector, and account for more than three-quarters of private-sector research and development. This year’s economic turmoil brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, thrust manufacturers into an even more critical role in our nation’s recovery, and they are stepping up, meeting the challenges, and finding new opportunities. Manufacturing Day is an opportunity for manufacturers to highlight their work, their workers, and energize a future pipeline of skilled workers. Companies like CellAntenna are pivoting to turn their adversity into success. CellAntenna, of Coral Springs, Florida, offers worldwide signal solutions utilizing in-house design to deliver custom-built turnkey projects. As the pandemic unfolded, their international business came to a halt as customers overseas went on lockdown. “From a sales standpoint, patience is a virtue,” says CEO Howard Melamed. “It forced us to look at debt as an anchor to the business. We reduced debt, increased liquidity to allow us to wait out the few months of stagnation.” “From an operations standpoint, [the pandemic] made it more difficult but not impossible,” Melamed continued. “In our shop, we instituted a policy of social distancing and developed a UVC chamber to disinfect equipment.” CellAntenna soon realized that the UVC products they created to disinfect their manufacturing facilities could be sold to manufacturers to disinfect tools and packages. They are actively marketing this line of UVC products both domestically and internationally. “We have an SBA export line of credit that supports sales to Israel, Mexico, Canada, South America, and Europe,” he said. “We regularly use EXIM credit insurance to ensure payment. And we have used multiple Gold Keys from the U.S. Commercial Service. We are currently working with Commerce to break into the Brazilian market.” Manufacturers such as CellAntenna are driving our nation’s recovery and paving the way to the future. Join SBA’s Manufacturing Day webinar and see how you, too, can follow in their footsteps, to business success.
Source: https://www.sba.gov/blog/manufacturers-are-leading-our-nations-recovery