Local Business Importing & Exporting Luncheon

Did you know that Certificates of Origin are required in order to export locally manufactured products?  And did you know that Chambers of Commerce are the only places to obtain them? Well I didn't when I first accepted the position of President & CEO for our Chamber, but in the last three years I have signed well over 4,000 of them for local businesses exporting their products to other countries.  

This month, in honor of Green Mt. Coffee Roasters receiving a Globe Award from the World Trade Center in Tacoma, we invited three of our local businesses to speak at our luncheon regarding their experiences with importing and exporting products to and from the United States.  We also invited Michael Fowler from the World Trade Center Tacoma, who is also a consultant for the Tacoma-Fuzhou Trade Project to speak about the process of becoming an importer/exporter.  Our three local businesses included Green Mt. Coffee Roasters with their emphasis on importing coffee beans from two dozen countries as well as their Keurig coffee machines made in China; Troutlodge, Inc. who ships eyed salmonid eggs (including Rainbow Trout, Silver Steelhead, Arctic Charr and Coho Salmon) to nearly every state in the country plus over 60 other countries around the world; and Dillano's Coffee Roasters, named Roaster of the Year by Roast Magazine, who opened as an espresso cart in 1992, evolved into a full time wholesale roasting plant in Sumner and grew from a tiny three-person outfit to a nationally recognized roaster with more than 1,500 customers across the county employing more than 65 people.

A big thank you to Michael Fowler from the World Trade Center, Tacoma, Andrew Barfoot from Troutlodge, Inc., Mark Ireland, Dillanos Coffee Roasters and John Rader, Green Mt. Coffee Roasters, for sharing your business experiences and answering our audience questions.  It was fun to learn more about what our local businesses are doing.  And a big Chamber thank you to our luncheon sponsor, Diagnostic Imaging NW, and the Best Western Premier Plaza for their wonderful hospitality.