In 1985 in the tiny downtown office of the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center, seven local business leaders hunkered down for the day to discuss how to address the growing international trade market. They asked: Are there experts in Rhode Island? Won’t others want to know what those experts know? How should we present their ideas and knowledge to benefit other Rhode Island businesses?

Raymond W. Fogarty was there, just a few years removed from his undergraduate studies. The gathering that came out of that meeting was “more of a seminar than an event,” with few panelists and attendees. Many Rhode Island companies weren’t all that interested in international trade at that time, Fogarty explained recently.

“They would say that they’re domestic market is so strong. They’d say, ‘We haven’t saturated that, so why look at international trade?’ ” he said.

Full Story: Trade builds relationships for R.I. firms Source: Providence Business News, May 16th, 2009 Author: Kevin Shalvey Added on May 20th, 2009 at 2:33 pm, by Matt Mikula