International Trade Center

SIUE International Trade Center Wins Statewide Governor’s Award

The Illinois SBDC International Trade Center (ITC) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville recently won the International Trade Center of the Year Award at the Illinois Export Conference Awards Luncheon. The Illinois Export Awards recognize companies that have achieved excellence in exporting and organizations that have provided substantial export assistance to Illinois companies. Governor Pat Quinn presented the awards at a June 21 luncheon in Chicago.

The ITC was recognized for its performance on behalf of clients the SIUE office assisted in furthering Illinois export opportunities during this past year. According to ITC Director Silvia Torres Bowman, the ITC at SIUE assisted its clients in the generation of more than $71 million in export sales through its consulting, training and research services ($182 million in export sales generated in the last six years).

“We are honored to receive this recognition for our contributions to economic development in Southern Illinois,” Torres Bowman said. “We are deeply committed to the continued increase of exports in our region and we are very proud of our talented team and the tremendous support of our School of Business and SIUE, which makes it possible for us to deliver quality programs and services to our clients”

The ITC at SIUE has had a substantial presence in the entire Southern Illinois region since 1984 through various outreach centers and a former satellite office at SIU Carbondale. During the past ten years, the ITC has provided Latin America-specific counseling and training services to clients from the entire state, with the goal of improving the competitiveness of all Illinois companies through building exports to Central and South America.

Photo: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn presents the International Trade Center of the Year Award to SBDC/ITC Director Silvia Torres Bowman.

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