Team NEO upsells area's global appeal
By Katie Byard
Akron Beacon Journal
June 7, 2010
Bernardine van Kessel says she has an advantage in her new job selling Northeast Ohio to foreign companies.
A native of Holland, van Kessel, 40, initially moved to the United States in the late 1980s to play field hockey for Kent State University.
''I'm able to view the area through the eyes of a newcomer,'' she said.
Van Kessel, a Hudson resident, is the newly hired director of international business attraction for Team NEO, the regional business-attraction organization.
She’s already lined up trips this summer to Germany, Switzerland and China, where she’ll talk up the region with ''leads''—companies that might be interested in setting up operations in the United States.
The initial emphasis will be on Europe.
“We’re not going to ignore China as an up–and–coming market,” van Kessel said, “but right now Europe is still the largest foreign direct investor in the region.”
More than 60 percent of the country’s new direct foreign investment in 2008 came from Europe, according to a June 2009 report that van Kessel cites.
Team NEO defines the region as a 16-county area, including Cuyahoga, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit and Wayne counties.
Van Kessel predicts she will make about six or seven trips abroad a year but says a big part of her work will be in this country.
Trade shows in the United States can be gold mines for “leads.”
“The big trade shows are global in nature. You can go to New York, Chicago, Boston and find international companies exhibiting there.”
Van Kessel, who speaks Dutch, German and French, is not new to international economic development.
Most recently, she ran her own consulting company, working primarily with Dutch companies interested in investing in the United States.
When the dollar was stronger—making importing more attractive—van Kessel had a small company that imported tulip bulbs from her native Holland.
Previously, she was economic development director with the city of Hudson. Earlier, she was director of international trade for the Akron Regional Development Board (now the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce).
Her bachelor’s degree from Kent State is in international relations.
Even her first job after graduating had an international flair. She worked in international sales and marketing for Seal Master of Kent, which produces custom–made seals and extruded rubber products.
Private funding
Team NEO spokeswoman Carin Rockind points out that a private foundation—not tax dollars—is picking up the tab for the group’s international-business-attraction effort.
Team NEO, a collaboration of area chambers, receives no public funding.
The Cleveland Foundation is funding a two–year, $1 million program that will focus on the manufacture of medical devices, as well as the advanced energy industry (including wind power and fuel cells).
Van Kessel will sell the region, not just Cleveland, or any one city, said Rockind.
“Individual cities worry about their own jurisdiction,” van Kessel said.
She notes that some cities, such as Akron and Beachwood, have aggressively pursued foreign investment. Both have attracted Israeli businesses.
“We want to make sure that if the lead doesn't set up shop in Akron, that we don’t lose it to Virginia. We want to be able to grab [company officials] and say, ‘Hey, what about Youngstown?’ ”
“We would like to see a cohesive and consistent regional message,” van Kessel said.
She will work with a consulting firm—PM&P Consultants, based in Germany—hired by Team NEO. “They are our people on the ground in Europe,” she said.
Article reprinted with permission, Copyright 2010, Akron Beacon Journal, All Rights Reserved. |
