22 Feb. 1999
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COURSE GENERATES MILLIONS IN REAL SALES
A unique University of Central Florida international business course that has generated $10 million in sales for area companies is expanding to include students from other Florida universities. A $60,000 Enterprise Florida grant will add University of Tampa, University of Florida and Florida Atlantic University students to the program. A total of 28 seniors and graduate students will represent over 20 Florida firms in 11 overseas markets this May and June.
"UCF students will be in Mexico, Argentina, China, South Korea and the Czech Republic this year," says UCF business professor Robert Taft. "Students from the other colleges will visit Spain, Poland, Chile, Venezuela and Viet Nam."
Taft began the "IB-2000 Program" two years ago. Working in teams of two, students spend a semester working up an export strategy for the participating companies, which pay $3,000 to cover the students expenses. The two student representatives spend five weeks in the target country visiting potential customers.
"Last year, working in eight countries, students generated 92 premier leads," says Taft. "Projected sales from their efforts are almost $30 million."
"We feel we benefited from the program and that it was money well-spent," says Bill Schwartz, president of Schwartz Electro-Optics in Orlando. The students generated leads for him in Chile, Argentina and Canada.
"Cold sales calls frequently go unanswered," says Jim Sherry, President/CEO of Dearborn Electronics in Orlando. "Yet a call from the United States embassy by a UCF student is warmly received, particularly when the student is a mature professional representative of your company." The program generated half-a-dozen quality leads in Canada for his firm.
Sherry says the program is very effective for small companies, "Basically (it) allows you to dip your toe in export waters without spending big bucks."
Colleges outside Florida have already expressed interest in joining this unique program because, as the business world gets smaller, students with practical international business experience are in great demand. Two students from the first classes already have high-profile, internationally focused jobs they attribute directly to their experience with IB-2000.
-30-
EDITORS: Robert Taft, (407) 823-3343. [email protected]
Jerry Klein, UCF News Bureau (407) 823-2730 http://www.oir.ucf.edu/pubrel [email protected]
RSS