I recently had lunch with a great gentleman I have done business with throughout the years when my marketing agency was doing international work. He is Jorge Arce, Director, U.S. Commercial Service (U.S. Department of Commerce) located in Jacksonville. For businesses in North Florida, Jorge is a terrific resource and he doesn’t cost your business a dime. If you’re interested in expanding your international business; diversifying your market; establishing a world class rated product or service; or competing or defending your business on the world stage, then Jorge can get you export ready. He reminded me that 96% of small businesses in the U.S. don’t export their products or services, missing a great opportunity. He said that of the 4% who do export, 70% of those businesses have less than 50 employees. So you don’t have to be large or just a manufacturer of products to benefit. Jorge says exporting helps avoids downtime during a fluctuation in the U.S. market and downtime for seasonal products. Part of Jorge’s success is that he works with 75 U.S. embassies throughout the world in addition to working with JAXPORT and the Chamber’s JAXUSA Partnership. He made a big difference in my company, an advertising agency, expanding our scope of work. You can contact him at 904-477-9485 or Jorge.Arce@trade.gov. He is on the right in this “Lunch with Les” photo.