KEY POINTS:
Representatives from NZ Trade and Enterprise's Beachheads programme gather in San Francisco this week to talk about marketing and selling products in the United States.
Jeffrey Lamb, the New York-based senior business development manager of NZTE's Americas Beachhead programme, said the conference tomorrow and Friday aimed to help Kiwi businesses succeed in the US.
"The overall goals of this event are to provide an opportunity and occasion for the heads of New Zealand Beachheads companies - and a handful of other companies who may be considering the value of the Beachheads programme - to meet with the majority of our advisers and other experts as well as with each other.
"We have found that there is great value in group meetings and leaders of New Zealand companies networking with each other to share ideas, experiences and sometimes resources. The agenda has been carefully designed to create immediate strategic and tactical value for the New Zealand companies.
"This is the second time we have held this event and fully intend for it to be annual," Lamb said from New York. Representatives from more than 35 companies would be attending.
Peter Bull, NZ Trade and Enterprise's American director, and Greg Cross, global chairman of the Beachheads advisory board, will speak at the conference at Le Meridien Hotel.
Bridget Liddell will host a session on how North American Beachhead advisers can be of value to New Zealand companies. The conference will also examine capital raising, public relations, marketing and recruitment.
Companies represented at the conference include: Glidepath, which has supplied baggage handling systems to the North American aviation industry for more than 20 years; Wellington Drive Technologies, one of the world's leading suppliers of energy-saving motors for the refrigeration, ventilation and appliance industries; Actronic Technologies, an Avondale-headquartered business which has developed a mobile weighing system which it exports to many countries; and TimeZoneOne, a brand development and graphic design business which specialises in offering speed, creative and cost advantages to its clients.