Attention CFOs and Risk Managers: The World Trade Center Institute and M&T Bank invite you to a unique morning session to help business executives better understand what they need to know in pursuing business overseas.  WTCI Vice President Peter Gourlay will present the International Risk Management Continuum© with a special feature of the trade finance experts from M&T Bank: Peter Senica and Gerald Solomon. The Continuum Seminar Series© is a bi-monthly program sponsored by WTCI, a non-profit international business education organization. 

“We provide this free service to all firms in the region to help guide them through the key steps necessary to pursuing global work,” said Peter Gourlay, WTCI Vice President and developer of the Continuum© program.  Business executives should not miss this session which will have a special emphasis the role of a good banker and the trade financing.  “Getting paid is always a key issue and getting smart on this element "before the contract is signed" is critical,” said Peter Senica, Vice President of M&T Bank’s trade finance unit. 

Uniqueness: The Continuum© is unique due diligence tool that will help management better understand the entire spectrum of risks and resources for global business. The Continuum's© great value is that it can provide access to resources to help ensure firms are successful as they become global. It is designed with the evolutionary thought process in mind:  providing a practical business flow-process to identify and address risks and opportunities for global business. Both new-to market and savvy global companies can use the Continuum© as a due diligence guide; to gain knowledge and insights on key approaches for success; and to learn of qualified resource that can be tapped at critical business junctures: from the business planning process-to-financing the sale.

Value:  The Continuum© also provides an increased awareness of the multitude of subsidized public resources and private resources that are available to American firms doing work overseas.  "Attending this seminar is really a great opportunity for executives wishing to gain an outside perspective for their business due diligence,” said Gourlay.  Previous programs have been hosted by the Technology Council of Maryland, Montgomery County’s Economic Development Office and at the World Trade Center in Baltimore. 

What are previous seminar attendees saying about the program?  “I think the most valuable feature of the Continuum is its comprehensive approach,” said Andrew M. Saidel, President of Dynamic Strategies Asia.  “It offers practical ways to minimize risk at each stage of the business planning process,” he said.  Dallas Linke, Former General Manager of ABB says, “This tool is invaluable in providing an executive level roadmap through the minefields of international business.”  The Continuum© provides an outside third-party vehicle to involve and engage key officers of the management team to discuss unique aspects of their global business and why certain decisions made in haste could be wrong, or at worst, disastrous.

Who Should Use the Continuum©?  The Continuum© is designed for those new-to-overseas and experienced global companies. Users of the Continuum© will learn the importance of involving key select officers in the internal corporate strategy to go global. Continuum© users will also learn about key partners to help with repatriation of profits, U.S. laws and taxation issues, public and private finance resources, the importance of key overseas trade groups, marketing tips to find clients, strategies to enter markets, advice on global insurance coverage, various financial tools to protect your investments and much more. Experienced international firms should use the Continuum© as a checklist against their current management plan for overseas work. Those new-to-overseas should benefit from the Continuum's© flow-process and follow the likely order of the decision-making process with their management team.

Contact Mark Davis at mark@wtci.org or call him at 410-537-6039