It has been one year since I took over the reigns at Kansas Global, and what a busy year it has been!
Our team has grown; our relationships with partners overseas and across the country have strengthened. We have assisted businesses enter new markets all over the world and expanded and diversified Wichita’s international sales through the City of Wichita Export Accelerator Program. Our partnership with the Kansas Department of Commerce has provided significant opportunities for Kansas companies to improve their virtual international marketing.
We launched a new website, the weekly Kansas Global Trade Trends, and a monthly newsletter as part of a more robust outreach program. We have participated in multiple events to increase our community’s knowledge of the important services we provide to small-to-medium-sized businesses. In addition, we are increasing our efforts to promote global interest in Wichita and Kansas. To this end, we sponsored Exploration’s Death by Chocolate and won the Judges’ Choice Award for our global chocolate tour table. We will be participating and organizing future events that bring the world to our region.
Lastly, I was appointed to the Industry Trade Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Commerce and Vice Chair of the Mid-America District Export Council. These roles will allow Kansas Global to have a voice in international trade policy affecting rural and urban Kansas businesses ability to successfully enter foreign markets.
Looking forward to my 2nd year as the President and CEO of Kansas Global, we want to build upon the work and successes of this first year to reach more companies ready to export their products and services. We have some big plans in the works to increase engagement between Kansas and the rest of the world, and look forward to strong export growth over the coming months and years!
Laura Lombard
CEO & President
