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Small BuSineSS SucceSS StorieS naFta MarLin SteeL Wire ProduCtS LLC
naFta brings new sales and ease of business

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company:

arlin Steel Wire Products LLC is a leading manufacturer of custom wire baskets, wire forms, and precision sheet metal fabrication assemblies. The company caters to global clients from the pharmaceutical, medical, industrial, aerospace, and automotive industries. With a full-time team of engineers and industry-leading technology, Marlin Steel is able to produce a world-class product. Marlin Steel has been exporting for eight years, with sales now going to more than 20 countries. One-fourth of the companys 33 employees are employed as a direct result of its export success. Canada and Mexico are vital markets for Marlin Steel. Each year, 10% of its sales go to those markets. In other words, Marlin Steels employees enjoy two or three paychecks a year thanks to sales in Canada and Mexico.

Marlin Steel Wire Products LLC

Baltimore, Maryland
WeBSite:

www.marlinwire.com
Drew Greenblatt is president of marlin Steel Wire products.

Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel, emphasizes the importance of international trade and the impact it can have on small business. NAFTA is a good thing for our country, he explains. It added new markets that we want, and now its a piece of cake to do business with Canada and Mexico. Greenblatt says that the United States should continue to pursue more trade agreements vigorously. From a business perspective, the foremost goal of U.S. trade policy should be to tear down barriers so that companies like mine can start exporting to new markets, he says. Free trade agreements have helped us accomplish this in the past and will help our business grow in the future.

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Small BuSineSS SucceSS StorieS naFta WeStern ForMS, inC.
naFta eliminated tariffs on its exports to canada and mexico

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company:

estern Forms Inc. is one of the many U.S. companies that benefitted from NAFTAs significant tariff reductions for its exports to Canada and Mexico. Founded in 1955, this family business is a global leader in concrete forming systems. Western Forms has 120 employees in its facility in Kansas City, Missouri, and exports to more than 40 countries. Its products have been used to build hundreds of thousands of concrete homes around the world. The firm has been providing aluminum forming systems for a wide range of structures to Canada and Mexico for more than 30 years. In recent years, half its sales have gone to those markets. Dan Ward, international operations manager for Western Forms, has been a strong advocate for the benefits of NAFTA. There was a 10% tariff on our product before NAFTA, which was a barrier to entry in Canada and Mexico, he says. Thanks to NAFTA, the tariff was phased out over five years. The benefits in new sales and new jobs are plain to see.

Western Forms, inc.

Kansas City, Missouri

www.westernforms.com

Western Forms builds concrete homes around the world.

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Small BuSineSS SucceSS StorieS naFta Patton eLeCtroniCS Co.
Sales double to canada and mexico due to naFta

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company:

obby and Burt Patton founded Patton Electronics Co. in 1984 while they were still students in college. Since then, the brothers have expanded their manufacturing company dramatically, and today it employs more than 120 people in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Patton Electronics makes a wide range of data and telecommunications products, including VoIP gateways, routers, mobile surveillance, and other connectivity devices. The company started exporting in the 1990s and now sells to more than 120 countries; exports account for 70% of its business. Canada and Mexico were among the firms first export markets in the early 1990s.

Patton electronics Co.

Gaithersburg, Maryland
WeBSite:

www.patton.com

the patton electronics company production facility is in Gaithersburg, maryland.

Bobby Patton, president and CEO, says: Before NAFTA, we had virtually no sales to Mexico and Canada. Between 1992 and 1994, our revenue on exports to Canada and Mexico doubled, from around $100,000 per year to more than $250,000 per year. The majority of Patton Electronics revenues in these countries have come from phone companies and Internet service providers selling services to small and medium enterprises. Patton Electronics sales to Canada and Mexico averaged more than $1 million per year from 2000 to 2011. NAFTA continues to be a powerful engine for growth and job creation for the company.

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Small BuSineSS SucceSS StorieS naFta QuaLity FLoat WorKS, inC.

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company:

Firm found new customers through naFta

uality Float Works, Inc., has been operating in Canada and Mexico for more than 50 years. Jason Speer, the firms vice president and general manager, offers an eloquent testimonial of the gains his company has seen owing to NAFTA. The company is an industry leader in the production of floats, which are hollow metal balls used to level liquid controls. It manufactures floats using its in-house design capabilities that enable the company to develop a variety of shapes, materials, and sizes for a wide array of industries. Quality Float Works has 26 employees. In 2011, Canada and Mexico together accounted for 15% of the firms sales, representing nearly half its international sales. Speer often highlights the number of customers he has gained thanks to NAFTA. Before NAFTA, we had just a few clients in Canada and Mexico, he explains. Since NAFTA, we have been approached by many companies in those markets that want to buy our products. The range of companies were doing business with there has exploded. Speer says that he enjoys the ease of business with Canada and Mexico because of NAFTA and hopes to see progress in the near future on additional trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership as well as a possible trade agreement with the European Union. NAFTA and these other trade agreements have been vital to the growth of Quality Float Works and our ability to create new jobs, he says.

Quality Float Works, inc.

Schaumburg, illinois
WeBSite:

www.metalfloat.com

customers throughout the world rely on Quality Float Works floats to operate their equipment.

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Small BuSineSS SucceSS StorieS naFta eLLiCott dredGeS, LLC
the company fought for naFta 20 years ago and is benefiting today

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company:

llicott Dredges, LLC, was at the forefront of the national debate on NAFTA 20 years ago. As the worlds leading manufacturer and exporter of dredges, Ellicott Dredges President Peter Bowe, Ellicott Dredges Union President Robert Gardner, and the union itself endorsed NAFTA. Because Ellicott depends on exports, Bowe says that every employee understood how NAFTA would be good for Ellicott and create jobs. In the months leading up to the vote on NAFTA, Ellicott employees voiced strong support for the agreement. Ellicott was featured in numerous TV interviews; ABC News Peter Jennings visited the firm. Ellicott union workers and officers spoke at pro-NAFTA rallies. At NAFTA Products Day at the White House, Ellicott steelworker Robert Scheydt introduced President Bill Clinton, who wore an Ellicott company hat as he surveyed a display of the companys products. As predicted, Ellicott saw quick dividends. A month after NAFTA was signed into law, a Mexican road construction company bought two dredges from Ellicott and named one after President Clinton. Today, Ellicott does more business in Canada and Mexico than the company did in total 20 years ago.

ellicott dredges, LLC

Baltimore, Maryland
WeBSite:

www.dredge.com

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Small BuSineSS SucceSS StorieS naFta FrontLine CoMMuniCationS
exports are our salvation

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company:

rontline Communications, an Oshkosh Corporation Company, is the leading manufacturer of custom broadcast vehicles used for gathering and broadcasting the news.

With 151 employees based in its Clearwater, Florida manufacturing facility, the company has sold vehicles to 36 countries. Frontline has been doing business with Canada and Mexico for more than 20 years. Bob King, International Sales Manager of Frontline Communications, said the companys motto is Build it here, Sell it there... as a country, Exports are our salvation, he explains. We need to look outside the United States to advance our business and maintain our position in this marketplace. International markets continue to bring additional business to Frontline. This year, Frontline delivered five trucks to Global Network Stations in Canada and recently received another order from TVA-Montreal and Televisa Network in Mexico. King is an advocate for additional trade agreements to be negotiated, especially for Brazil and Argentina, and Frontline manufactured an enG Ht for applauds the new U.S.-Colombia trade televisa in Guadalajara, mexico agreement, which has brought more opportunities for new business.

Frontline Communications
location:

Clearwater, Florida
WeBSite:

www.frontlinecomm.com

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Small BuSineSS SucceSS StorieS naFta CLarK MateriaL HandLinG Co.
naFta created a new north american market

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company:

ince 1917, CLARK Material Handling Co. has been a leading manufacturer of forklifts. The company continuously seeks innovative ways to improve its products, expand its services, and provide value to its customers. President and CEO Dennis Lawrence says that his business recognizes the value of NAFTA every day. NAFTA is about much more than just moving products across our borders, he explains. It strengthened the competitiveness of each country and created a new North American economyone that connects the United States, Canada, and Mexico in a seamless way.

CLarK Material Handling Co.

Lexington, Kentucky
WeBSite:

www.clarkmhc.com

Lawrence and his team of 185 employees in Lexington, Kentucky, manufacture two truck models that are sold in Canada and the United States. Last year, CLARK opened a facility in Mexico and sees great growth prospects in the country. We have a lot in common with Canada and Mexico, Lawrence adds. Thanks in large part to NAFTA, its become much easier to do business across North America, and today 60% of our worldwide sales take place in the NAFTA market. For CLARK, trade agreements, such as NAFTA, have brought new opportunities, growth, and jobs.

there are over 250,000 clarK lift trucks operating in north america and 350,000 units operating worldwide.