Nominations sought for Governor’s Trade Excellence Award 2014

by Roger Murphy
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alabama workMONTGOMERY– Applications are now being accepted for the 8th annual Governor’s Trade Excellence Award, presented by the Alabama Department of Commerce and the Alabama Export Trade Alliance. This prestigious program recognizes companies in Alabama that have excelled in selling their products or services overseas.

Recipients include large, medium and small businesses as well as new to export companies from every region of the state. Industries selected are from the manufacturing, service and agribusiness sectors.

“Firms that emphasize exports are among Alabama’s most dynamic and productive companies,” said Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield. “Exports continue to be the engine of our state’s economy. Last year, Alabama companies exported a record high of $19 billion of goods to the world generating and sustaining thousands of jobs in the state.”

The objectives of the Governor’s Trade Excellence Award Program are to:

• Identify Alabama’s successful and innovative exporters.

• Promote exporters as role models to the Alabama business community in order to encourage greater involvement in the global marketplace.

• To develop and enhance awareness of the impact of exporting to Alabama’s economy.

Irondale’s Creative Concepts, makers of Pucker Powder candy, won the award in 2011.

Irondale’s Creative Concepts, makers of Pucker Powder candy, won the award in 2011.

 

Award winners are selected on submission of their application, which assesses a company on a variety of criteria such as level of export sales as a proportion of total sales, sustainable growth in export sales, quality of export marketing strategy, senior management commitment to export development, innovations in exporting, and businesses that have benefited from the export assistance to make export sales or open new overseas markets using services from organizations making up the Export Alabama Trade Alliance.

Companies may nominate themselves or be nominated by a trade association, customer or anyone familiar with their achievements. A panel from the Export Alabama Trade Alliance selects recipients of the Governor’s Trade Excellence Award.

Applications can be obtained by calling Dara Steele at 334-242-0442 or email dara.steele@commerce.alabama.gov. The deadline for submitting nominations to the Alabama Department of Commerce is December 13.

Past winners of the award include big companies such as Motion Industries and Altec Industries and smaller outfits such as RFID Atlas and Line X. Winners have included organizations such as the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, large manufacturers, tech firms and start-up companies.

One of the 2011 winners, Irondale’s Creative Concepts, sells Pucker Powder candy and its innovative dispensers around the world, as described in this Made In Alabama profile of the company.

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