Testimonials & Success Stories
Learn about the many ways the International Trade Center at SIUE has helped its clients to achieve their export goals:
- Save The Girls, Belleville
- After surviving the Covid-19 pandemic, Belleville’s Save the Girls is discovering new paths to growth and success through exports thanks to the ITC at SIUE.
- My Scratch Offs, LLC., Maryville
- My Scratch Offs LLC, a woman- disabled veteran-owned business, is a printer of custom scratch-offs with a focus on small, medium and large businesses. The company’s products are used for promotional marketing as well as custom scratch-off cards, stickers and envelopes produced for themes such weddings, anniversaries and baby announcements.
Karen Tinsley-Sroka, My Scratch Offs’ founder and CEO, started her business in 2008 in her living room. She has seen strong growth since that time, and her work with the ITC since 2015 has only increased this growth.
Spurred on by the challenges of the 2020 pandemic, My Scratch Offs worked with the ITC and its partner network to overcome adversity by continuing to explore export markets. Between 2020 and 2022, Tinsley-Sroka participated in ITC-sponsored programs, including the Virtual Trade Roundtable Series, educational webinars, Export NOW 2021, and CARES Act-funded mentoring sessions. In addition, the ITC provided her with regular in-depth research reports covering global markets of interest.
ITC’s latest collaboration with My Scratch Offs in 2022 resulted in the successful creation of two localized websites in Spanish and French, which were much needed to jumpstart engagement and exports in their target markets: Mexico and Canada.
- My Scratch Offs LLC, a woman- disabled veteran-owned business, is a printer of custom scratch-offs with a focus on small, medium and large businesses. The company’s products are used for promotional marketing as well as custom scratch-off cards, stickers and envelopes produced for themes such weddings, anniversaries and baby announcements.
- Smart Controls LLC., Fairview Heights
- Although the Covid-19 pandemic created many challenges for small businesses, the increasing penetration of video conferencing platforms such as Zoom reduced logistical barriers for doing business internationally. In 2021, Mr. David Kniepkamp, President of Smart Controls LLC, participated in the Southern Illinois Virtual Trade Mission to South America led by the ITC at SIUE and interacted with potential business partners in Peru, Chile, and Colombia. As a result of his participation in the trade mission, Mr. Kniepkamp feels very optimistic about his company’s business prospects in those markets. “The opportunity to meet, collaborate and share information and experiences with new professional colleagues was the pinnacle highlight of the Virtual Trade Mission. To establish contact and dialogue with clients and get an opportunity to see and share their needs and desires was an experience of a lifetime.”David Kniepkamp, President, Smart Controls.
- Red Bud Industries Inc., Red Bud
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“Twenty-five years ago, we began exporting. But in 2020, we knew we needed to greatly expand our exports. Our partnership with the Illinois SBDC International Trade Center at SIUE has guided us through the process of obtaining ISTEP and CARES Act funding. That in turn connected us with a cadre of outstanding technical consultants, each equipped to answer our questions and point us in the right direction to forge alliances with customers and distributors worldwide. Thanks to this support, RBI is establishing footholds in Western Europe, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. COVID-19 put the brakes on our international business. But the State and the ITC at SIUE have guided us to a solid path forward. For any company in Southern Illinois or statewide, this is a great resource that RBI strongly recommends. You may think you’re alone in the challenges of exporting, but you’re not. The ITC stands ready to help.” Brandon Sachtleben, Contract Administrator.
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- MSSC LLC., Collinsville
- A longstanding Collinsville-based manufacturer of industrial inkjet printers and other products is expanding its exporting to three additional countries, thanks to funding and expertise via the Illinois SBDC International Trade Center (ITC) at SIUE.
- Special Mine Services Inc., West Frankfort
- Faced by the challenges of 2020, industrial-size electrical connector manufacturer Special Mine Services Inc. of West Frankfort has been working with ITC at SIUE Director Silvia Torres Bowman to overcome adversity by exploring international markets.
- International Trade Center at SIUE Boosts Clients’ Global Success
- Local companies are finding increased success in global markets thanks, in part, to funding and support made possible by their partnership with the ITC at SIUE.
- Progressive Recovery, Inc., Dupo
- For three decades, Progressive Recovery, Inc. in Dupo has been designing and manufacturing equipment to help customers recycle and/or process hazardous waste.
- DeMoulin Bros & Co., Greenville
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Ed DeMoulin opened a manufacturing facility in Greenville, Illinois, about 50 miles northeast of St. Louis, to produce items for fraternal organizations. As time marched on, the DeMoulins kept stride, diversifying their range until finding the market that would drive the company throughout the ensuing century: marching bands. Today, the 150-person company is the nation's biggest producer of music performance apparel, outfitting high school and college bands, color guards, concert bands and choirs worldwide, producing more than 50,000 band uniforms annually.
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- Brianza Bella LLC., Carlinville
- Sherry Brianza, managing partner and founder of Carlinville-based Brianza Bella LLC, first contacted the ITC at SIUE in 2009 for exporting expertise specific to her company. In 2015, Brianza returned to seek additional assistance from the ITC and Assistant Professor Yuping Zeng’s graduate business students. The goal was to research potential new markets in South America and Mexico for Bella Girl, Brianza’s new upscale line of cosmetics designed for tween girls.
- Elastec, Inc., Carmi
- Elastec/American Marine is the largest manufacturer of pollution control equipment in the U.S., with over 30 years of experience. Elastec/American Marine was awarded the 2011 Governor’s Export Excellence Award in the small-sized company category for continuing excellence during 2011 Illinois Export Week in Chicago, Illinois.
- Natural Enrichment Industries, Herrin
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Bill Kuzma Sr., vice president of Natural Enrichment Industries (NEI), traveled for the first time to Turkey and participated in a trade mission led by the Illinois Office of Trade and Investment and the Turkish Chamber of Commerce in Chicago. During the trade mission, Kuzma met with several government officials as well as potential partners who all expressed strong interest in NEI's products.
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- The ROHO Group, Belleville
- The ROHO Group is an Illinois-based medical device and consumer products manufacturer specializing in cushioning technology designed to protect human skin and tissue in a variety of market applications.
