Small Business Export Opportunities: Accessing Resources to Expand International Sales (Senate Small Business Committee hearing, May 29, 2024)
Summary
The printed record of S. Hrg. 118–386, a field hearing of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship titled Small Business Export Opportunities: Accessing Resources to Expand International Sales, held May 29, 2024 at University of New Hampshire Innovation in Durham, NH, and printed in 2024. The committee met at 10:00 a.m. with Chair Jeanne Shaheen presiding as the only senator present. Four witnesses testified: Justin Oslowski, Director of Commercial Service for New Hampshire at the International Trade Administration; Lisa Rogers of Vibrac Precision Test Systems; Drew Matter of Mikros Technologies; and Adam Boltik, Program Manager in the Office of International Commerce at the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs. The appendix carries questions for the record from Chair Shaheen to Oslowski and Rogers.
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“Small Business Export Opportunities: Accessing Resources to Expand International Sales (Senate Small Business Committee hearing, May 29, 2024).”
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S. HRG. 118–386
SMALL BUSINESS EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES:
ACCESSING RESOURCES TO EXPAND
INTERNATIONAL SALES
FIELD HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
OF THE
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
MAY 29, 2024
Printed for the use of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
(
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
56–459 WASHINGTON : 2024
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COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire, Chair
JONI ERNST, Iowa, Ranking Member
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MARCO RUBIO, Florida
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts RAND PAUL, Kentucky
CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware TODD YOUNG, Indiana
MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada TED BUDD, North Carolina
JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado
SEAN MOORE, Democratic Staff Director
MEREDITH WEST, Republican Staff Director
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CONTENTS
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire .......................................... 1
WITNESSES
Mr. Justin Oslowski, Director of Commercial Service—New Hampshire, Inter-
national Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce ...................... 4
Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 7
Ms. Lisa Rogers, Vice President and Director of Operations, Vibrac Precision
Test Systems ......................................................................................................... 9
Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 11
Mr. Drew Matter, President and CEO, Mikros Technologies .............................. 13
Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 16
Mr. Adam Boltik, Program Manager, Office of International Commerce, New
Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs ............................. 22
Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 25
APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED
Questions for the Record for Mr. Oslowski from Chair Shaheen ........................ 40
Questions for the Record for Ms. Rogers from Chair Shaheen ............................ 43
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SMALL BUSINESS EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES:
ACCESSING RESOURCES TO EXPAND
INTERNATIONAL SALES
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2024
UNITED STATES SENATE,
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m., at Univer-
sity of New Hampshire Innovation, 21 Madbury Rd. #100, Durham,
NH 03824, Hon. Jeanne Shaheen, Chair of the committee, pre-
siding.
Present: Senator Shaheen [presiding].
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SHAHEEN
Chair SHAHEEN. Please be seated everyone. Good morning. Be-
fore I officially open this hearing, I am going to explain a little bit
about how it is going to work this morning and introduce some
folks.
This is an official hearing of the Small Business and Entrepre-
neurship committee in Washington. I am fortunate enough to be
able to chair that committee right now. Joni Ernst, who is from—
Senator from Iowa is the Ranking Member on the committee.
And we are here doing a hearing on small business exporting. I
want to introduce some of the folks from the committee who are
here with us this morning, because we brought up the staff from
both the majority and the minority, which we always have to do
on an official field hearing.
So, from the majority, we have Jacob Press. If I could just ask
you to stand up. Hi, Jacob. Sebastian Roa over there. From the mi-
nority, we have Sam Scoca—Sam. And Corey Cooke, who is also a
UNH alum. It is really nice. She just started with the committee,
so we are delighted to have her here. And Justin Witt.
And then the clerk for the committee is Kathryn Eden, who is
in the back. Thank you, Kathryn. For my staff, let me also intro-
duce my staff who are here. We have James Ahn who is my legisla-
tive director—stand up. And Will Garrity Binger, who works on
small business and issues in D.C.
And Tina Kasim, who many of you know, who works on small
business issues here in New Hampshire. So, again, thank you all
very much for joining us. This hearing on small business and entre-
preneurship will come to order officially. And I have—normally we
give opening statements, which I will do, and we will enter those
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for the record as well. And then I will introduce our witnesses. It
is really an honor to be here at UNH.
For those of you who don’t know, I live about five minutes down
the road, so it is especially nice for me to be here. Really appreciate
the Innovation Center for hosting us this morning, and very much
appreciate the witnesses for joining us.
Today, we are going to discuss small business exporting, and in
particular, how we work together to expand small business oppor-
tunities abroad. More than 95 percent of the world’s consumers live
outside of the United States, but less than 4 percent of small and
medium sized businesses actually export.
And that number has gone up a little bit. I can remember when
I first got to the Senate in 2009, only about 1 percent of small busi-
nesses were exporting. So, we have made some gains but not a lot.
And we have a significant opportunity for growth and that is what
this hearing is about, to give us a chance to explore how we can
help America’s small businesses reach consumers.
In 2021, approximately 2,500 firms exported goods and services
worth over $6 billion from New Hampshire. Of those exporters,
over 85 percent were small and medium sized businesses.
Now, the numbers are good, but as I said, I think we can do bet-
ter. The 85 percent represents about 2,000 small businesses, so
there are many more small business owners who have never—ex-
ported and many of them could benefit greatly.
There is untapped potential for growth, which makes it critical
that we address access and resources to assist small businesses in
finding new markets for their products. Companies like Madco 3D
in Rochester, not too far down the road, I got a chance to see first-
hand the product that they are producing.
They are 3D printing houses, and they can also help address
building coral reefs. I think there is a tremendous opportunity for
companies like Madco 3D, and we are going to hear from compa-
nies this morning who can talk about what they have seen as the
result of exporting.
I became a real fan of international trade when I was Governor
and led the first trade mission overseas back in 1997. So, a long
time ago. But what I saw was just the benefits that New Hamp-
shire businesses could gain as the result of trade.
That is why when I got to the Senate, I helped to create the
STEP Program in 2010 to help small businesses offset the cost of
training, market research, website upgrades, and trade missions to
begin or expand sales internationally.
Last week, the Small Business Committee advanced legislation
to update STEP to make it easier for States to administer so that
more small businesses can access and compete internationally.
And the changes that we made to the legislation were by and
large the result of what we have heard from all of you who work
on exporting about what we need to do to make it easier to access
those funds and to make them more usable.
Here in New Hampshire, I know our STEP grantee, the Office
of International Commerce, works closely with the Commercial
Service to ensure that small businesses are supported throughout
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I am glad both of those offices are represented here today to dis-
cuss the tools that they currently have available. We have two ex-
perienced exporters who are also joining us today who can talk
about the gaps that we can address better to support small busi-
nesses. Last year, New Hampshire exports reached a record of $7.6
billion.
That is up 85 percent since 2016. And it demonstrates the focus
that we have had on expanding international growth in New
Hampshire. I still think there is more we can do, and that is what
this hearing is all about.
I also want to point out that immediately following this hearing,
we have a resource fair to showcase STEP and other organizations
that can help small businesses with contracting, manufacturing,
and patents.
I hope that folks who are here will take advantage of that. And
I am not going to introduce everybody who is here as part of the
resource fair at this point. I will do that at the end of the hearing.
But just want to say it is a who’s who of folks who can be helpful
to small businesses in New Hampshire.
Now, with that, let me introduce our witnesses. Justin Oslowski
is the Director of the U.S. Commercial Service Office in Ports-
mouth, where he has been for the last 16 years, and we are fortu-
nate that he has been there for that long. He is setting—his hair
was a lot less gray when he started. [Laughter.]
Mr. OSLOWSKI. A lot less gray.
Chair SHAHEEN. He leads the office’s work assisting businesses
with locating international opportunities, conducting market re-
search, and coordinating with U.S. staff overseas to support export
opportunities.
He brings particular expertise in the safety and security, defense,
aerospace, and environmental technologies industries. He has also
worked at U.S. embassies in Greece and the Philippines supporting
U.S. commercial efforts.
Next to Justin is Ms. Lisa Rogers. She is Vice President and Di-
rector of Operations for Vibrac Precision Test Systems in Man-
chester. Vibrac provides torque testing equipment to NASA, the
U.S. Navy, and several leading companies in defense and consumer
products. And if you don’t know what torque testing is, which I did
not until I visited there, it is very important, particularly in the de-
fense and space industries.
Ms. Rogers has more than 15 years of experience in exporting at
Vibrac, ranging from directly handling overseas shipping to navi-
gating due diligence to prevent selling sensitive goods to bad ac-
tors.
So, you make sure that everybody complies with our export con-
trol regimen, which is not easy. I am grateful you are able to share
your experiences with so many aspects of exporting, and to a wide
array of markets.
Next, we have Mr. Drew—no, Mr. Drew Matter. He is President
and CEO of Mikros Technologies, which designs and manufactures
advanced liquid cooling systems for semiconductors and other high
power uses in Claremont, New Hampshire.
I got to visit Mikros when you first did your groundbreaking
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back in 2000 as Governor, and I am pleased to say I got to go back
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again a couple of years ago and see the amazing changes that have
happened there and the growth. Drew began his career at NASA’s
Johnson Space Center, and he brings significant manufacturing
and engineering expertise.
Since joining Mikros in 2017, he has helped the company expand
its exports significantly, especially as the semiconductor market
has grown. And finally, we have Adam Boltik, who is the Inter-
national Trade Resource Manager at the New Hampshire Office of
International Commerce in Concord.
He oversees efforts to assist New Hampshire businesses looking
to start or expand in markets overseas and supports programs ex-
panding access to export related training and services.
He also represents New Hampshire in promoting the State as a
premier investment destination for foreign companies, and pre-
viously worked for the International Trade Administration, helping
U.S. exporters with foreign government procurement opportunities.
So again, thank you all for being here. We will begin with Justin
and go right down the panel.
STATEMENT OF JUSTIN OSLOWSKI, DIRECTOR, U.S. COMMER-
CIAL SERVICE PORTSMOUTH, PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMP-
SHIRE
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Great. Thank you. Senator. Before I launch into
my prepared comments, I just wanted to recognize your decades-
long commitment to international business development and so ap-
preciated.
Your staff is incredible and so hard working. I have worked in
three different States, and we have always felt so supported here
in New Hampshire. So, I just wanted to recognize your leadership
and the team’s leadership on such a vital issue. So, thank you. I
am also honored to be here with Lisa, and Drew, and Adam.
Can’t ask for better clients or friends, so thank you.
Chair SHAHEEN. Thank you very much.
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Chair Shaheen, thank you for inviting me here
today to testify on U.S. Government efforts to help small busi-
nesses expand in international markets. I am pleased to have the
opportunity to discuss how the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
International Trade Administration, ITA, and its U.S. and Foreign
Commercial Service are supporting efforts to increase U.S. exports
and assist in small business growth, which in turn leads to good
paying jobs here in the United States.
Our country’s exports are crucial for a strong economy. The data
shows us that businesses that export overall create more jobs, they
pay better wages to their workers, and generally earn higher reve-
nues.
Programing by Federal agencies like those here today to assist
small businesses in accessing export opportunities provides a re-
turn on investment for the American economy. As the Federal Gov-
ernment’s primary export promotion arm, the International Trade
Administration fosters economic prosperity, enhances job creation,
and strengthens national security through a global network of
trade specialists across the country and around the world—the U.S.
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foreign—and Foreign Commercial Service.
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Our national and international network of approximately 1,450
trade specialists is uniquely positioned to provide extensive export
focused business counseling and support to small and medium
sized enterprises, SMEs, throughout the United States through a
mix of free and fee based services.
We are located in over 100 U.S. based export assistance centers,
or USEACs, and in 127 offices located in U.S. embassies and con-
sulates in 80 countries. We conduct commercial diplomacy and im-
plement programs to help companies identify and access new mar-
kets like those here today.
Last year, we assisted approximately 42,000 companies in ex-
porting for the first time, of which 85 percent were SMEs, and near
and dear to my heart, 22 percent were from rural or underserved
communities. Locally, I am proud to serve as Director of the New
Hampshire U.S. Export Assistance Center.
Our USEAC provides local exporters, these guys here, especially
SMEs, with global market intelligence, counseling—although I
have also received Lisa’s counseling——
[Laughter.]
And other programs and services to help strengthen their global
competitiveness—off the topic. Our team works in close coordina-
tion with State agencies as well, like the New Hampshire Depart-
ment of Business and Economic Affairs, as well as local organiza-
tions to ensure our services complement each other and not com-
pete.
We also work closely with our interagency colleagues from the
U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the Export-Import Bank of
the United States, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
An example of this collaboration is how States leverage SBA’s
State Trade Expansion Program, which again we thank you for
your leadership Senator, to assist SMEs, including, you know, ac-
cess services of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service to com-
pete globally.
To provide an example of how, the Federal Government helps
and how we are equipped to provide, Geophysical Survey Systems,
GSSI—you are familiar with them, Senator—in Nashua, New
Hampshire has successfully utilized funding from a STEP grant
and access to our services to export to new markets since 2016, and
they were clients well before then.
GSSI is a leading manufacturer of ground penetrating radar used
to non-invasively survey sub-surfaces, and it is testament to the
technological innovation of American small businesses.
Oftentimes, SMEs like GSSI and others know they have greater
market potential with their products or services but lack the re-
sources to tap into it. The gold key services that ITA provides com-
panies with matchmaking appointments with up to five interested
potential partners in a foreign market.
So, you ask yourself, what does that look like in action? Well,
GSSI wanted to expand its business in South Korea. Our local of-
fice worked with our Foreign Commercial Service colleagues based
in Seoul to provide a list of possible partners to help GSSI grow
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Years later, that partner purchased $1.1 million worth of prod-
ucts during the COVID–19 pandemic at a time when many small
businesses were shuttering their operations.
GSSI continues to serve an exemplary client for our office, a
place where innovative technology, coupled with a commitment to
exporting and the utilization of Government services, build a rev-
enue stream which now accounts for nearly 50 percent of their
overall sales and has contributed to both job creation and job reten-
tion. So, compete with that Lisa. You are coming next. [Laughter.]
So, finally, I would like to note that our economy cannot reach
its full potential unless the benefits of trade and commerce are
widely felt by individuals and businesses from underserved commu-
nities, including our rural communities.
At ITA our focus on equity has enabled us to assist business
owners from these communities, ensuring the benefits of export
sales reach companies and workers in those communities.
ITA recognizes the unique challenges that rural companies face
in beginning to export and expanding their presence globally. Our
National Rural Export Center, the REC, delivers tailored training
and market research services to rural businesses across the coun-
try.
And one of these services, and I am going to get cute here, Rural
America’s Intelligence Service for Exporters, or our RAISE pro-
gram, which helps companies target the best markets and helps
them reduce potential risks in export decision making.
New Hampshire has one of the highest participation rates in
RAISE services in the country. Thanks to the chair—thanks to
Chair Shaheen and your colleagues on Commerce’s Appropriations
subcommittee, ITA recently opened eight new regional RECs to
reach even more rural businesses so that they may benefit from the
work on the Rural Export Center, as well as the full suite of serv-
ices provided by ITA.
Chair Shaheen, ITA and the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Serv-
ice have more than 40 years of proven success in trade promotion
and commercial diplomacy. Each day, our priority is to connect
American businesses with foreign markets, which you referenced,
where over 95 percent of the world’s consumers live.
We are here to work hand in hand with you to help our busi-
nesses and our State grow, thrive, and compete in the global mar-
ketplace. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today,
and I look forward to answering your questions after my col-
leagues.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Oslowski follows.]
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Chair SHAHEEN. Great. Thanks very much, Justin. Now, I said
I was going to do this just like we do in Washington, but if
everybody’s comfortable, I am just going to use your first names.
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Oh, for sure.
Chair SHAHEEN. Since it is New Hampshire, right.
Mr. OSLOWSKI. I don’t even know how to pronounce my own last
name, so. [Laughter.]
Chair SHAHEEN. Good. Thank you. Lisa.
STATEMENT OF LISA ROGERS, VICE PRESIDENT AND DIREC-
TOR OF OPERATIONS, VIBRAC PRECISION TEST SYSTEMS,
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Ms. ROGERS. Hi. Thank you. Good morning and thank you for the
opportunity to speak today on this very important topic. My name
is Lisa Rogers, and I am Vice President of Operations at Vibrac,
a precision test equipment company in Manchester celebrating its
64th year this year.
We have seen a lot. Located in Manchester, our company designs
and manufactures custom precision torque testing systems to an
array of industries, notably aerospace, defense, consumer product,
and automotive industries, among others. We count among our
strong customers NASA, the U.S. Navy, Raytheon, Lockheed Mar-
tin, Honeywell, BAE, PepsiCo, Becton, Dickinson, and Procter &
Gamble, among others.
I have almost 17 years now experience in exports while at
Vibrac. I am a newly elected member of the Granite State District
Export Council as well. Thank you, Justin. Looking at a snapshot
of sales for the past year and a half at our company, our inter-
national sales have been over 45 percent.
While we have enjoyed exporting our products internationally
over the past 60 plus years, the available markets in the form of
distributors and the acquisition of Vibrac Europe in the UK, and
now an office in Barcelona—who wants to go—has allowed us to
further expand potential for new sales, as well as ability to provide
after sales service to our customers.
Key drivers in our export growth recently can be attributed to re-
search of the markets and territories we wanted to target globally,
focusing on a microeconomic approach, working closely with the
U.S. commercial services on opportunities and avenues for explo-
ration, the SBA, STEP grants, the Trade Winds program through
the International Trade Association, or the ITA as Justin men-
tioned, and even the country commerce guides found on the ITA.
Attendance at international trade shows and missions such as
DSI Japan and DSI in London, the Paris Air Show, and Trade
Winds event and matchmaker in Bangkok, Thailand last year have
propelled us in front of new audiences and compatible technologies.
These accelerators have had significant impact on our small com-
pany.
We are already at 71 percent growth from the same period last
year. It is important to note here that with growth supported by
exports, small businesses can increase not only their profits but op-
portunities for investment.
Such growth will inevitably require adding new jobs to meet that
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demand. Vibrac has added eight new jobs in the past year and a
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half. Adding new orders to our production schedule requires us to
source and vet new suppliers.
As a result, when Vibrac grows, our suppliers can grow. When
our local economies grow, we stimulate further interest in how we
have achieved this and share that knowledge with other small
businesses seeking the same.
Knowledge of and utilization of some of the resources that I men-
tioned earlier provides much needed support in the forms of train-
ing, available trade missions, and possible financial assistance, es-
pecially vital information on how to perform due diligence on po-
tential international customers, protecting intellectual property,
navigating foreign trade policy and regulations, and how to make
sure you get paid all aid small businesses and their ability to sup-
port export successfully.
I am continually learning of new resources that I can share inter-
nally and with our offices overseas, that we continue our growth.
I want to share those with everyone here. The world needs our ex-
pertise. They need our exports. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Rogers follows.]
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Chair SHAHEEN. Thank you, Lisa. Can I just get a clarification?
When you said you had 71 percent growth from last year, was that
across the board or was that just in exports?
Ms. ROGERS. That was across the board. And we are currently,
as of yesterday, at 51 percent growth in exports.
Chair SHAHEEN. Wow.
Ms. ROGERS. Yes.
Chair SHAHEEN. Thanks.
Ms. ROGERS. So, it has been great.
Chair SHAHEEN. Drew, you are up next.
STATEMENT OF DREW MATTER, PRESIDENT AND CEO,
MIKROS TECHNOLOGIES, CLAREMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Mr. MATTER. Thank you. Chair Shaheen, members of the Small
Business committee, staff, and distinguished guests, friends, col-
leagues. I am honored to speak with you this morning on the topic
of small business export opportunities.
My name is Drew Matter, and I serve as President and CEO of
Mikros Technologies in Claremont. Mikros designs and manufac-
tures high powered liquid cooling systems that can provide lower
power consumption for big computers, servers, data centers.
And the result of that can be helping companies, even commu-
nities, and our nation meet broader sustainability goals when these
data centers are taking less energy to do their work.
Many of Mikros’ exporting successes have come with the help
and hard work of our friends at the U.S. Commercial Service, and
the New Hampshire BEA, also the Manufacturing Extension Part-
nership, the MEP, but including assistance that we have had from
the STEP grant program over several years.
I am also pleased to be a part of the Granite State District Ex-
port Council, and thankful for the ability to participate in that. We
were also, as you mentioned, Senator Shaheen, we were also hon-
ored to have you visit our R&D facility two years ago with NSF Di-
rector Sethuraman Panchanathan.
And I want to thank you for your continued hard work for small
businesses like Mikros across our State and across our country. So,
our exporting moment. As a small business with a leading thermal
technology that was developed out of a project to do cooling for the
space station in the mid-80s, the challenges to meet the rapidly in-
creasing demands of the semiconductor market are significant.
Mikros, in our daily work, will work for years with Silicon Valley
system design engineers to provide a world class solution for a
supercomputer. Only then, after the project is designed, to meet
the supply chain counterparts who because we were a small busi-
ness lay—may lay upon us exaggerated production ramp demands
to make sure that we can meet them, unfavorable supplier agree-
ments and financing terms, and immediate pricing pressure.
And we also, every time we ship, we wonder about the risk of our
IP. Protecting the jobs of our bright and committed team of Granite
State engineers, precision machinists, and technicians in the cur-
rent AI gold rush moment is what keeps me up at night.
Our exporting experience. In 2020, when global supply chains
were in COVID upheaval, Mikros was pleased to participate in a
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14
ice at the kind invitation of Justin and Taylor Little. Our first
international representative to Mikros ever emerged from this
event.
And because of the strong national initiatives in India to advance
national computing and a national incentive to electrify vehicles
across the country, our business opportunities have grown signifi-
cantly in the nation of India, among others.
Then, in 2022, Mikros invested in a marketing report by the
RAISE team, as Justin mentioned, Rural America’s Intelligence
Service for Exporters. It is cuter when Justin says it. [Laughter.]
Mr. OSLOWSKI. It is.
Mr. MATTER. The RAISE report cross-referenced Mikros’ export
codes with top importing countries and top importing companies of
those codes worldwide.
I would encourage our representatives and the U.S. commercial
service teams in Washington, D.C. to continue to resource the
growth of Rural Export Centers so that more businesses can in-
crease their return on exporting investments. It was a game chang-
er for us and an easy decision to make on that resource.
Our current exporting need. The scale of the infrastructure need-
ed to deploy next generation computing systems worldwide in the
next three to five years is orders of magnitude above their 2024
levels.
Major chip manufacturers in Silicon Valley are using the word
tsunami to describe the market over the next three to five years,
and these are tens of millions of chips that are expected to be doing
the computing for society in the next decades. The exporting re-
source needed of small technology businesses like Mikros, and like
Vibrac, and others are thus going to grow proportionately.
And so, I see these needs fitting the following categories. First,
increasing and continued ease of access to export resources and
regulations. Small businesses feel a more acute risk when shipping
any international package, as our shipping manager, Joyce Elliot,
can tell you. She is here with me today.
I am very thankful for her. We feel that risk acutely. And fund-
ing the development of consolidated and up to date U.S export reg-
ulations and resources will be key, as small businesses have less
margin for lost revenue when unanticipated costs or delays are in-
curred in shipping. Secondly, intellectual property, protection re-
sources.
Groundbreaking technologies are often developed by small busi-
nesses, as Lisa also makes clear, which must then engage inter-
national markets against competitors with much greater economic
and legal leverage.
Stronger Government backing for intellectual property can help
ensure that small businesses can clear critical development hurdles
as they grow. And so, my crazy question is, could there be an FDIC
for IP? Third, market development resources.
My recommendation is to continue to fund groups like the Rural
Export Centers and others that resource small businesses like ours
to grow those groups and so that they can achieve greater struc-
tural efficiencies to help companies like Mikros more quickly and
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15
long term revenue, greater stability, and greater jobs in the Gran-
ite State.
In conclusion, Mikros, and I believe all of us, sit on the precipice
of a burgeoning semiconductor market in which the U.S. can con-
tinue to maintain a leadership advantage. We actually just sub-
mitted a concept paper for the CHIPS Act grant as well. And we
are very thankful for your office’s offer of support there.
The rise of artificial intelligence is forcing the well-known bend
in the hockey stick of the computing market curve. And if that is
true, we can use the Wayne Gretzky analogy in a hockey region of
the country and skate to where the puck is going, both domestically
and internationally.
This will require continued export policies and resources that
empower small businesses, so that our local economies and
workforces can rise to meet the need of an ever more techno-
logically focused and advanced manufacturing future.
Thank you for the opportunity to share our exporting experiences
and recommendations with committee this morning.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Matter follows.]
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Chair SHAHEEN. Well, thank you very much. I know we will get
into some of the issues that you raise more after all the testimony,
but I just wanted to comment on the IP because I want to make
sure everybody knows that we have a new office of—a new patent
and trademark office that is opening in New Hampshire in the
near future.
And it is going to be for Northern New England. And so, some
of the issues that you raise about intellectual property, I think, it
will be a great opportunity to discuss with some of those folks.
I don’t know, do we have anybody from the patent? Thank you.
You want to introduce yourself?
Ms. DOHERTY. Yes, Senator. My name is Elizabeth Doherty. I am
the Eastern Regional Outreach Director for the U.S. Patent Trade-
mark Office.
Excited to be bringing our first ever community outreach office
here to the New Hampshire and New England community. Excited
to be standing that up to provide resources to inventors,
innovators, entrepreneurs, small business owners.
Chair SHAHEEN. We are very excited that they are here. And
that you are here today. Thank you. Adam, next.
STATEMENT OF ADAM BOLTIK, PROGRAM MANAGER, NEW
HAMPSHIRE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE, CON-
CORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Mr. BOLTIK. Thank you, Chair Shaheen. Thank you to my fellow
panelists for basically saying what I was planning on saying any-
way, so it will be really easy to go through all of this. Thanks,
UNH for hosting for all of the resource partners that are here, and
especially to the small business representatives, both here on the
panel and in the audience.
There are many that I recognize that we have talked to, that we
have worked with, that have used our programs such as STEP, and
I am glad that they are here. Hopefully they are all very, very
happy. If not, we can talk later.
But thank you for this opportunity as well to speak on the State
of New Hampshire’s efforts to assist small businesses in accessing
resources to expand to international markets. As you mentioned,
the importance of international trade to the States economy cannot
be overstated.
The Department of Business and Economic Affairs is committed
to ensuring that companies have the support and assistance they
need to compete in the global marketplace. You mentioned that
this past year, we set a record number of exports valued at over
$7.6 billion.
It has been incredible to sort of be in the office seeing these num-
bers grow, and I think it really is a testament to the great demand
worldwide for products, equipment, and components made in New
Hampshire, by New Hampshire companies, particularly small busi-
nesses such as those that are represented here.
And while global trade can be lucrative, as we have discussed,
the initial risks to getting into these markets I don’t think can be
ignored. Companies can be bogged down by burdensome regula-
tions and rules, overwhelmed by the availability of potentially in-
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compatible sales channels or opportunities, and faced with uncer-
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23
tainty for receiving payments after a sale occurs. I think both Lisa
and Drew mentioned that that was a big concern for them.
And we know that for small businesses, these are not small chal-
lenges. I think the best tool that we have is the State Trade Expan-
sion Program administered by the U.S. Small Business Administra-
tion. I think you are very familiar with sort of how that works and
how we have benefited.
But it allows us to offer support to companies new to exporting,
as well as to veteran exporters who are expanding their reach.
Since the program was created in 2011, New Hampshire has re-
ceived more than $2.9 million in STEP funds across, I think, 11
rounds now.
And it has been our companies that have used this funding to
turn that into more than $108 million in exports, representing a re-
turn on investment of more than $37 per Federal dollar that was
invested.
Since its inception, STEP funding has helped New Hampshire
companies with hundreds of export building activities. Companies
have used that funding to redesign packaging to meet changing
regulations in foreign markets, obtain innovative market research
from the Department of Commerce’s RAISE program.
I am not going to say that because I know I will trip over what
it means. And then also finding new partners and sales channels
thanks to the U.S. Commercial Service. The STEP funding has also
enabled the Department of Business and Economic Affairs to sup-
port educational programs and prepare training materials.
In recent funding rounds, we have worked with partners includ-
ing SBA’s New Hampshire District Office, the New Hampshire
Small Business Development Center, and the U.S. Commercial
Service to develop our export accelerator program, which we are
happy to say launched this month with an initial class of eight
companies.
We are ready to learn more and put together export plans thanks
to our assistance. We are in the process for applying for another
round of STEP funding, and I am very happy to note that the
Small Business Committee recently passed legislation that would
reauthorize the STEP program and make sure that it continues to
be there to help us, as well as to help the small businesses that
really need it.
I also appreciate the engagement from your staff, Senator Sha-
heen, who made sure that I was—my views were incorporated in
sort of the development, making sure that the changes that were
being made were going to help States and small businesses. I think
at least at one point, I was on a call at 11:00 at night when I was
in Poland, but they still really, really wanted to get some of those
details down.
Another key BEA initiative that we were again proud to have
Federal support for includes a partnership with the U.S. Depart-
ment of Commerce’s International Trade Administration through
their Market Development Cooperative program. We received fund-
ing from them a couple of years ago to put together what we call
the New Hampshire E-Global Institute.
This is a free resource for companies, those interested in export-
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24
merce, to self-assess the readiness of their digital strategies, and
most importantly, link with other companies that can help them in
their efforts and grow.
The ability to export products from maple syrup to India to air-
craft parts to Germany helps our companies diversify their bottom
line. We know exporting helps these companies create jobs, invest
in infrastructure, withstand economic headwinds, and be competi-
tive at home and abroad.
The examples and stories from Lisa and Drew demonstrate this
with the number of jobs they have been able to create and the abil-
ity to pivot when global crises have made doing business hard. But
the success of these companies and other New Hampshire export-
ers is neither accidental nor happenstance.
It comes about because of a longtime partnerships with agencies
whose expertise and aligned commitment is a model for other
States. BEA is proud to be a partner with Federal, State, and local
agencies, and entities that share the same goals that we do, which
is providing the best economic opportunities we can for everyone.
It would be hard for us to deliver what we do for New Hampshire
businesses without the support of programs such as SBA STEP
funding or the Department of Commerce’s Market Development Co-
operative Problem—Program.
I knew I was going to trip over something. But it would be im-
possible to do any of this without our partners. We have the capac-
ity to bring these partners together, and I think from our recent
record setting exports to the strong return on investment, to our
STEP grants, it is clear that these partnerships work. Thank you,
Senator.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Boltik follows.]
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Chair SHAHEEN. Thank you all very much for your testimony and
for the work that you have done, and for the feedback that you give
us. I like the story about at 11:00 at night in Poland. I hadn’t
heard that story before.
And we know that the best ideas usually come from all of you
who are out in the field, who are seeing how things work. And our
job is to try and address those concerns, make changes to make
things work better.
So, we are delighted to have your thoughts today. And Adam,
you gave us a good segue into what I wanted to have as my first
question which is, how do you help companies get started in export-
ing?
So, if—and I know Lisa and Drew, you have thoughts about that
as well. But a company calls you. They think they have a good
product or service. They want to export it. What do you tell them
to do? Justin, you want to start first.
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Yes. I mean, we have an amazing team here in
New Hampshire. So, the commercial service, that is not our client,
honestly. I mean, we would help direct them, but Liz Gray, I don’t
know if she is in the room.
But Liz Gray, Adam worked very, very closely with our office, to
include SBA and included our Granite State District Export Coun-
cil members. We started NH export accelerator program.
And that is the sort of collaborative nature—legacy of collabora-
tion that Dawn Wivell started decades ago when you were Gov-
ernor.
Chair SHAHEEN. And Dawn is actually here too, so we are de-
lighted that she is still involved.
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Yes. There is—I have said this before, it is a cul-
ture of collaboration that exists within the State that is actually
the envy of other States.
So, for us, that new to export company, if they don’t have an ex-
port plan, that could be a referral on to the SBDC, the SBA. That
could be a referral on to Lisa. Hey Lisa, I know you had trouble
in this market, can you touch—and then we graduate them.
They evolve. And then hopefully the idea is for them to become
a client who is ready for us, who can then go international, because
I think it is an educational process. You just can’t jump straight
in it. I mean, you can. If you have a website, guess what, you are
already international.
But we would like it to be more planned. We like that export
plan in place. And certainly, having something like the NH Export
Accelerator program would be something that I would definitely
refer them to right away, including tremendous assets online that
trade.gov has.
Chair SHAHEEN. So, Adam, talk a little bit more about the accel-
erator program.
Mr. BOLTIK. Sure. I think we are really excited to see this all
take off. And it became a project for us to work with, again, our
partners in SBDC, SBA, Commercial Service. You are going to hear
these groups a lot.
Chair SHAHEEN. The alphabet soup of agencies. [Laughter.]
Mr. BOLTIK. But you know, we wanted to help strengthen and
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doing business today into graduating to be able to use Commercial
Service project, programs and services.
You know, we were able to partner with SBDC thanks again to
support from the STEP grant, using sort of their model of various
academies and training programs where they bring together groups
of businesses to work together towards a common goal.
So, when we suggested, hey, we would love to see something that
could give businesses an export plan, they just hopped on this and
really took the lead, and we could not have done this without them.
Because, you know, being able to have that export plan, being
able to work with your peers to put something together really is
going to help make companies a little more confident in the export
journey, as well as understand what resources there are available
from the State, from the Federal Government, from our partners.
And, you know, again, we are really excited that this has started
up. We want to see where this is going, but hope to be continuing
it a lot more, to get companies on that journey to where they can
finally start going, to trade shows and hanging out with Justin.
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Yes, that is what I do.
Chair SHAHEEN. And so, for anybody who didn’t notice on your
way in, Liz Gray and the Small Business Development Centers are
represented here so they can talk more as part of the resource fair
for anybody who has questions.
Lisa or Drew, as you are thinking about, particularly maybe you,
Lisa, because I think you started at Vibrac before they actually
started exporting, right? Or you were involved in the early stages
of that.
Ms. Rogers. Yes. They had been exporting previously. Vibrac is
a very small company. We are 18, actually as of last week, 19 em-
ployees. When I said we brought on eight, that is a huge jump—
stretchmarks. So, and we will just leave it there. But, you know,
I jumped in. I am a former teacher. I am a former educator.
So, I came in with a keen interest in learning everything. And
I didn’t start as Vice President of Operations. I started as the office
manager. And my husband said, I need you at this company. And
so, I got my fingerprints all over everything. And one of those
things was helping with shipping and receiving.
I got to know the entire company by getting involved in all as-
pects of it. And when our shipper had to go on a medical leave, I
had to roll up my sleeves and ship, and a lot of stuff went overseas.
So, the domestic stuff was easy, but when you have to—it is now
called ACE and you have to get an ITN number for in order to
ship, and you follow with your—goods. And what is an HS code?
I sweat profusely because I didn’t know what those things were.
So, it was birth by fire, and I just learned it from the ground up.
Luckily with my expertise and experience in that, you don’t have
to sweat anymore. They have so many more opportunities, re-
sources available for something like that.
And I am very happy to be able to help other companies sidestep
some of that. One thing that I do, that we had mentioned, Senator,
was being a former teacher, I look at everything, where is your out-
line? You know, what is your export plan? What is your outline?
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And the little red pen comes out because I want to see what are
you thinking of looking—what are you looking at? Have you cov-
ered—do you know your market? Who are your potential cus-
tomers? What does the market look like outside of our borders?
And you know, what resources are you willing to dedicate to ex-
port?
The STEP program is an enormous impact, and it made a huge
difference for our company. We were—we had visibility and we gar-
nered quite a bit from work, and it was a lot of work when we were
in Tokyo for the DSI.
We used the STEP grant for that, and that was fantastic. We
began discussions with Pratt and Whitney. You get your feet in the
door at some of these events that you wouldn’t otherwise be able
to even on LinkedIn premium.
But taking all of this information, do you know how to collect
from international customers? Do you know how to protect yourself,
your intellectual property? Vibrac, because of the nature of what
we do, we have hundreds of patents that have been put out.
And some of our technology is used by the Department of De-
fense in protecting not only our country but helping other countries
in their battles as well. You know, that being said, there are a lot
of outside entities that would like to get a hold of things, so you
have to be very careful who you ship to.
A very, very specific tool, that I use and have our sales staff use
right now is the known entities list through the Bureau of Industry
and Security, bis.gov. You just go right into their page. You can do
a search by the person’s name, the company’s name, their address,
any other information about them, and immediately find out if they
pop up.
We have had some pop up, which means no go for shipping. And
you know, that is a first step tool—forms that are used as part of
this. The E-Global Institute, which has recently been launched, is
in my opinion a powerful tool for people who want to begin export-
ing. It can be very overwhelming.
But again, create your outline. What are your goals? What do
you want to achieve? You know, know your market. Know your
customers. Know your budget, okay. Sometimes you might have to
get some legal advice on certain aspects, but if you have things
written out ahead of time, you won’t have that birth by fire.
You get to just put the toes in slowly into the water a little bit
to test it out, and then jump in. But the resources that my col-
leagues here have mentioned make that transition into inter-
national markets incredibly easy, compared to what I had to do.
As Justin mentioned, there are numerous aspects with the U.S.
Commercial Services that provide companies opportunities for ex-
pansion and growth, and that is a great way to test the waters. So,
our technologies are quite different, but you have also done, and
you have worked at NASA before.
You know, you have indicated as well. But even if you are cre-
ating a unique firefighter suit, for example, with new technology,
this patent technology, they can use that everywhere around the
globe. And you can find your markets easily by targeting that and
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I mentioned earlier, on the ITA, they have a country commerce
guide. You can go into these guides and look up all these different
countries and find out what do you need to do to be able to export
to that country. What are the regulations? What are the rules?
Like we, you know, ship things to Saudi Arabia.
Sending things into the kingdom requires multiple steps of docu-
mentation that you wouldn’t have otherwise shipping to the UK or
to France or to Germany. Same with some of the other Middle
Eastern countries as well.
Chair SHAHEEN. Drew, I am sure you could add to that as well.
But can I also ask you in your, testimony, you mentioned that the
Rural Export Center, so the RAISE program was a game changer.
Talk about what you got from that that made that a game changer,
if you would.
Mr. MATTER. Yes. So, we—I think it was very eye opening for me
to look through our HS codes and do several cycles with this team
of analysts.
And they said, okay, so what do you make, and honestly, there
were five or six different levels of, I said, well, we make cooling
systems for computers, and they would send back a report. These
things? No, no, not these things. Different kind of niche. I would
tell them another thing. Well, these things? No.
By the end of six, five or six cycles—they were very patient with
me because I think I also got to the point where I said, you know,
this is exactly what they do, and they said, that is a little too spe-
cific. Okay, let’s bring it—back up a little bit.
We were able to really hone in then on where the United States
is exporting or what the countries around the world that are im-
porting those specific codes. And in the world of cooling computers,
there are all kinds of ways to do it.
We give the analogy of, if you are—you know, in the world of liq-
uid cooling, there are Honda Accords and there are Ferraris. We
make a Ferrari. If you need a Honda Accord, it is a great car, and
you should go buy one. But if you need a Ferrari, we make a
Ferrari.
So, we were able to actually look at the kinds of countries and
hone in on first a group of countries around the world, and then
from there say, okay, now let me look at 20 different factors that
I can rank, what is most important to Mikros. One of them was IP.
In addition to the revenue and those kinds of things, we also
wanted to pick different continents. We wanted to diversify geo-
graphically and by different kinds of markets. And by the end of
the time, we had picked three countries at which they then dug in.
And at the end of that, the country reports, we actually had
names of companies and the potential for them to the, give us con-
tacts at those companies to call.
Chair SHAHEEN. And so, did you use BIS, as Lisa said, to check
out whether there were concerns about those companies?
Mr. MATTER. We did. And the report had some factors of ease of
doing business, regulatory compliance, and ranking sort of world-
wide, which we were able to understand more broadly as well. Yes,
it was very helpful for us.
Chair SHAHEEN. And are you still working with the RAISE pro-
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Mr. MATTER. Right now, we are still going through the whole re-
port. There is so much that we can act on in that. And I want to
say for the low, low price—it was kind of a steal. If we were to en-
list a marketing group that would be private, it would have been
10 times the cost. And so, it was very helpful for a small business.
It was something very—we would not have done that because of
the cost with another group. But with this group, it was an easy
spend and it was very clear that the focus, the tailored focus on us
was a unique asset.
Chair SHAHEEN. And how long did it take to get the report? Was
it——
Mr. MATTER. They spent a good couple months getting the infor-
mation out of me. And then I would say another few months get-
ting the report put together.
Chair SHAHEEN. Justin is nodding. Has that been an issue or are
you feeling like that gets done expeditiously?
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Yes, we have definitely devoted more resources to
the Rural Export Center. And I think our closest center is in
Charleston. So, you know in hindsight, I look at it two ways——
Chair SHAHEEN. Charleston, South Carolina—West Virginia.
Mr. OSLOWSKI. West Virginia. Yes, and so my thought was, well,
we are so efficient here in the Northeast, we just don’t need addi-
tional resources. What can I say? Yankee ingenuity. But you know,
Taylor and I serve that function.
We have introduced RAISE. Adam has done a great—you know,
rose—raised the profile. And but it is—you know, it does take some
time. Part of that is because of the due diligence around it. They
want to make sure that the market research is being conducted ap-
propriately and properly.
Some of that is just because of the demand as well. But, you
know, this is a living document. Once a RAISE report is conducted,
I think companies can certainly use that for years to come because
it is a country matrix. It is a pretty fancy outline, there you go, you
know, of what—and a lot of our companies are actually using it to
reinforce resource allocation because they are focused on this mar-
ket or that market.
But why should we really be there? So, this is a living document
that provides live feedback basically because you can change the
inputs, the weights of those inputs. And so, yes, it is a little slower
than I think most companies would expect, but as long as the qual-
ity report that comes out, and like I said, we want to make sure
we are doing it correctly.
Mr. MATTER. And we have a list of 30 countries, and we high-
light the top 3, but once we are done with those, we will move on
to number 4. So, there is plenty that comes with that, that you can
act on for years to come.
Chair SHAHEEN. So, I was looking at the top countries that we
export to and obviously our top trading partners obviously is the—
number one is Canada. And I think number two is Germany and
number three is Mexico.
So, makes sense as part of the trade agreement between Can-
ada—the North American Trade Agreement, which is now
[US]MCA, that that would make sense. But are there other regions
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at as potential trading partners? You mentioned India, Drew. Are
there—the Indo-Pacific, I know is——
Mr. MATTER. Yes. We focused on Southeast Asia. We focused on
India, and we wanted to—we actually had to decide between a
country in Europe and a country in South America. So, I think, we
because we had had—before I would say this efforts with our
friends here over the past five years. We just had a client that
found us from Japan, a client that found us from Israel, and a cli-
ent that found us from Germany.
And so, and those are in a more technologically focused coun-
tries, and it was maybe statistically easy to think that that is
where we would be exporting. I think this allowed us to look geo-
graphically, broadly.
And then also, where are the—when we do cooling, we can do it
for computers, but we can also do it for lasers, and we can do it
for electric vehicles. And so, that diversification of the market also
helps bring stability for Mikros.
Chair SHAHEEN. So, did you decide on the Latin American coun-
try or the European country?
Mr. MATTER. We went with a European country.
Chair SHAHEEN. And why?
Mr. MATTER. That is a good question. I think we wanted to—we
had no other than the one country in Germany—or other than Ger-
many, we had no other countries in Europe, and we felt like there
was—we were seeing more kind of business trends in especially the
power electronics realm going into the European market.
And then also with data center, there is a big move in Europe
to use the waste heat from data centers to heat homes, which is
I think a pretty neat—that is a pretty neat thing.
Chair SHAHEEN. Yes. Combined heat and power, something that
we are looking at in the U.S. as well.
Mr. MATTER. Yes. So, we are very attracted to that. I did partici-
pate actually in a commercial service seminar with doing trade
with Brazil. And that was our other option. There are some major
aerospace manufacturers there, and that was the other option.
Chair SHAHEEN. And Lisa, you talked about the fact that about
45 percent—I think you said 45 percent of your business now is an
exports?
Ms. ROGERS. It has jumped to 51.
Chair SHAHEEN. That is right.
Ms. ROGERS. Yes, it did. But yes, it—from the 45 to 51 percent,
it did jump. And that was largely in part due to the geopolitical
environment for that aspect of our company. Our growth was so
significant that internally we had to split into two, into a consumer
products division and into the aerospace and defense division.
One of the systems that we make is a bearing inspector system,
and it does low speed, high resolution testing on bearings, and very
small bearings. And, as you can imagine, in many industries, par-
ticularly in aerospace and defense, there are bearings on every-
thing.
So, you know, the unclassified version is that we manufacture
the systems that calibrate the Patriot missiles and the THAAD
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33
the moon, which is pretty exciting. And then on the consumer prod-
ucts, we test your bottle caps.
So, we have a wide pendulum swing between those, but we have
seen the most significant growth in the aerospace and defense, and
internationally, with that bearing inspector and the associated
products that go with that.
As countries, considering the environment that you are in, you
have to keep your finger on the pulse, that there is a greater need
for our equipment.
Chair SHAHEEN. And Justin, you rattled off a number of statis-
tics about trade jobs in your testimony. And one of the things that
is implicit, I think, in some of those statistics is that it helps small
businesses be more recession proof.
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Oh, absolutely.
Chair SHAHEEN. So, when we went through the pandemic——
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Diversification of the revenue stream, yes.
Chair SHAHEEN [continuing]. Those businesses who could ex-
port—and I can’t remember if it was you or Lisa who talked about
being able to continue to do business during the pandemic, and the
difference that that made for so many businesses.
It really makes a huge difference and is one of the things that
I think doesn’t get talked about as much, but it is really critical.
Mr. MATTER. Yes. I would add one of the biggest benefits of being
a small business in New Hampshire is really the size of the State.
There is a strong sense of community here. We call each other by
first names.
And when—you know, if—I have been on a call, a national call
with the U.S. Commercial Service where you had different folks
highlighted, different kinds of markets. And my first thought was
on exporting, somebody exporting perishable foods is very different
than somebody cooling a supercomputer, right.
And I feel like, and I have said this several times to Taylor and
Justin, I don’t know what I have to offer here. But the beautiful
thing is, whatever you are making, that you can call a team that
is an interconnected, interagency team, and they will say, you need
to talk to this person. You need to talk to this person.
I think that is a real benefit of being in New Hampshire. And
I think as exports grow and as the resources grow, I think we need
to keep that sense of community—actually is very empowering.
And actually, that sense of community gets revenue faster to com-
panies. It is often overlooked but I think it is very valuable.
Chair SHAHEEN. Yes. No, and Adam, you and Justin both talked
about that as well, but about the collaboration that goes on, which
I think is one of the things that we really do well here, and we
have so many other agencies represented because everybody works
together and that is critical for our small businesses.
Can I—I know we are getting short—a little short on time here.
My staff is getting anxious there. But talk a little bit, if you would,
about outreach that you do. Because one of the reasons we are
doing this hearing is to try and make small businesses more aware
of the opportunities that exist out there and the resources that are
available to help them.
And that is why you all are here but talk about outreach and
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what you do. And maybe, Adam and Justin, and from Lisa and
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34
Drew, what you have seen that you think is helpful in terms of let-
ting companies know what is available. So, Adam.
Mr. BOLTIK. So, we are often called sort of one of those best kept
secrets, and I am sure Justin gets this as well, which is both great
because there is only a few of us, but at the same time, you know,
we want to be that resource.
We want to be known and want to be out there. And that is
where our partnerships come into play. You know, the way that the
system in New Hampshire is set up is no matter who you come in
and talk to, whether it is my office at BEA, the Commercial Serv-
ice, SBA, SBDC, like we automatically know who the right people
are to bring together to talk about the various programs and serv-
ices we have.
So, we have often been on basically joint client visits where we
are on calls. We are visiting facilities together, all of us talking
about the different tools that we can bring to the table to help busi-
nesses, no matter where they are in their business development or
export journey. It is still always a challenge.
Obviously, there is always lots more businesses that are out
there. You have mentioned sort of the universe of small businesses
that do export versus don’t. We would also love to see that number
increase as well. But, you know, it is thanks to those partners.
We also have wonderful champions like Drew and like Lisa. Like
folks that other companies who are here and some that aren’t, who
love to talk about their work with us, and most importantly, the
success they have had.
Hearing those successful stories, I think, is the best tool that we
have to talking about what we can do and how we can help. So,
we are always looking for new ways to share those stories. We are
a Government agency, so sometimes it is not as easy to share those
stories as it is for Drew and Lisa.
But that is the great way to do it, is when people can see that
this does work in a wide range of industries, a wide range of mar-
kets, they get excited, and they reach out to us. And because we
can all respond together with our experiences. I think that is when
we are doing the best for businesses.
Chair SHAHEEN. Okay. Does anybody want to add to that?
Mr. OSLOWSKI. Yes, I just think it is a leveraging of our re-
sources. I mean, the partnerships here, our outreach, really. You
know, what private sector companies don’t want to hear is I am
from the Government, you should trust me. But they want to hear
from Lisa. They want to hear from Drew.
And they want to understand the experiences that they have had
with us. And, you know, that is not completely fair because there
is a little bit of an anti-government bias. We are obviously here
very focused on our clients.
But, you know, but they are our best salespeople to go out there
and to talk about what we have been able to successfully accom-
plish. You, being able to highlight exporting and international busi-
ness as part of a field hearing.
That is our best advertisement for, you know, utilizing our serv-
ices, leveraging the resources that are available, and actually put-
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35
Chair SHAHEEN. And for Lisa and Drew, maybe just can you talk
about what the biggest challenges are that you think as you
are——
Ms. ROGERS. Currently? Getting the right people. Finding the
right people to talk to. You know, now that we are established and
you know we have that good, solid foundation that is under us,
that can be the trickiest part.
And but once you have got your foot in the door—and I think
that would speak to so many other people as well, just getting your
foot in the door and making sure it stays open. And so, the re-
sources that our small company has been exposed to because the
colleagues here, has had an enormous impact.
Sometimes you don’t know you are thirsty until someone puts
the glass of water in front of you. And, you know, that is really—
you know, really how I see it. If I had to look retrospectively, I
wish that I had known these were there because I wouldn’t have
otherwise. You know, I wouldn’t know to intuitively go look for an
e-global institute.
So, I think putting something out in publications, in you know,
the New Hampshire Business Review and other publications that
puts these in front of people’s, hey, did you know that this is avail-
able to you?
That is giving them their glass of water, in my opinion. And that
that is a key, I think, first step that I wish that I had. And I think
that that is paramount to getting your foot in the door and getting
started. That momentum to accelerate forward.
Mr. MATTER. I would say in the technology world, on projects
that take a lot of engineering investment up front, our biggest risk
is investing in a project for months, years and either it not coming
to fruition or finding out that the engineers, you know—the engi-
neers wanted the Ferrari, and the supply chain people wanted the
Honda.
And so, when the supply chain people say, why does this Honda
cost the Ferrari price? And when you have to say your engineers
designed it that way. That is tricky for us. So internationally, I
think there can be a challenge in making sure that the client is for
real.
So, it is—we have gotten—had enough of these meetings where
we can kind of tell, are they just testing the waters of high tech
American companies to kind of see what is out there? And these
companies can ask us to do lots of things, which as a small busi-
ness in New Hampshire, I can deploy my engineering resources
and waste a lot of opportunity cost on something that is not going
to come to fruition.
What has been helpful in now having a rep in India, for in-
stance—now we have somebody on the ground who can go and test
the waters for us, and we can train that person, that team to do
that for us. I think that is one of—that is probably our biggest
challenge right now is picking the projects that are going to—it
may have the highest ROIs is one way to put it, but another way
is not have a spin our wheels for no reason.
And when you are exporting, there is another element of time
and energy and cost there that we have to be much more careful
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Chair SHAHEEN. Well, I can tell you—I serve on the Foreign Re-
lations committee. And in that capacity, I have had a chance to
travel in the last two years to four countries in South—Latin
America, and four countries just recently in the Indo-Pacific. And
not to mention, a number of trips to Europe.
And I can tell you that every country we visited, number one on
their list was trade. They said, we want to do more business with
the United States. We want to do more trade. What are you going
to do to help encourage that trade?
So, the interest is out there. We just have to make sure that the
resources are available for companies and that people—that we can
do those match ups in a way that work for both sides.
Mr. OSLOWSKI. What are their names, by the way? [Laughter.]
Chair SHAHEEN. Well, one of the countries that was very inter-
ested, South Korea. You mentioned South Korea. And Japan. And
I—Japan has moved way up on the list in terms of trading part-
ners since I was in the Governor’s office.
So that is a very good sign. To see those trading partners in-
crease in countries where we haven’t historically done business is
really exciting. Well does any—would anyone like to make any
final comments before we close?
I know we promised folks we would get you out in time to have
all the resource agencies be available. And so, thank you all very
much for joining us, to all of our witnesses. Please stay in touch.
I know you will stay in touch with Justin and Adam, and hope-
fully you will with our office and the other folks who are rep-
resented here. The record will remain open for two weeks for addi-
tional questions and statements. And I would just point out, for
any companies that are interested, we do New Hampshire Business
Day on June the 12th.
In Washington, we have a number of folks who are coming from
the Administration and Government to talk to small businesses in
New Hampshire, and one of those people is Secretary Raimondo
who is—and also Doctor Panch, who heads the National Science
Foundation, who you mentioned Drew.
So, we have—we also have somebody from the Department of De-
fense. So, we have—we will have lots of folks who will be there to
answer questions and to talk about what opportunities are avail-
able. So, if you haven’t taken advantage of signing up for that, they
can do that through Tina——
Ms. KASIM. Yes—we have invitations with the QR codes, so you
can just scan that, and we will get you registered.
Chair SHAHEEN. And just before we close, I want to—because we
have a number of resource agencies here, I just want to go through
and mention who is here as part of the official record before we
close the hearing, because we have, in addition to the U.S. Com-
mercial Service and New Hampshire’s Office of International Com-
merce, we have the Export-Import Bank here, I think, represented.
If you—great, thank you.
And we have SBA’s New Hampshire District Office, Amy Bassett
is here. And of course, Liz Gray. We already, mentioned the Small
Business Development Center. I think we have SCORE, a network
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of mentors. Yes, thank you. And the Center for Women and Enter-
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37
prise. And we have staff from New Hampshire’s Apex Accelerator,
which we have already talked about.
And the Manufacturing Extension Partnership I think is here.
Great. And last but not least, I have already introduced the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office. So, we have lots of folks here. So,
it is an opportunity not just for any businesses who are here to net-
work, but for all of you to network with each other, for those of you
who may not know everybody who is here represented.
And I want to thank all of you for being here—and for the work
that you do every day to support our small businesses. As some-
body mentioned on the panel so eloquently, I think it was you Jus-
tin, that our small businesses, the more we can do to help them,
the more job opportunities we have for people, the better the jobs,
and the more opportunities for families.
So again, thank you all so much for joining us. And for all of our
panelists, thank you for being here and for your testimony, and we
look forward to continuing to work with you. At this point, I will
officially close the hearing.
[Whereupon, at 11:09 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
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