SD Trade missions seek new dollars for businesses

At the helm of South Dakota Trade since August,  Jesse Fonkert has a strong  background in working with businesses and regulatory agencies. He learned the details of his job by working with his predecessor Luke Lindberg in the public-private-partnership that navigates international trade for South Dakota.

Fonkert’s office set up a recent trade mission aimed at capitalizing on trade agreement frameworks between the United States, the U.K., and the European Union, promoting South Dakota’s beef and ethanol industries, which were key elements of the U.K. agreement. Representatives from South Dakota’s beef and ethanol sectors joined the delegation which included Gov. Larry Rhoden, South Dakota legislators and USD students to promote expanded trade.

“We export a ton of corn, soybeans, soy meal and ethanol along with beef and pork,” Fonkert said. “Our job is to understand what’s happening on a national/international level and to provide advice and access to different markets as we navigate trade missions. In addition to U.K./Ireland, we recently hosted a trade mission to Mexico and will be going to Canada in November.”

“In South Dakota, we are rather good at making ethanol and extremely good at producing high quality beef,” Fonkert said. “On the trade mission, we were able to include an ethanol producer who could talk about the importance of our work, the quality of our products, and why consumers in the United Kingdom should care about what we’re doing.”

In turn, the group learned about what’s happening with these overseas markets. Ethanol production in the United Kingdom is slowly spiraling down its operations as government support declines. They have high sustainability goals so ethanol is important as a healthy fuel option, especially when it comes to transportation for vehicles.

And the South Dakotans learned a lot about how the U.K and Ireland view beef. He explained, “Everything in Ireland is mostly grassfed beef. There are challenges in educating consumers in the United Kingdom about the differences in beef. Our group did amazing work in talking about American made products and American proteins, especially beef.”

The importance of reciprocal trade was brought up. “The U.K./Irish representatives indicated that if they are going to buy our beef, they also want us to buy their grass-fed beef. We understand that trade is reciprocal and that it’s important that market access go both ways.”

Ethanol production in South Dakota is 1.5 billion gallons strong annually, which is similar to the size of the United Kingdom’s actual ethanol market. Fonkert said, “If we can send American ethanol over there, that would likely come from places nearer the East Coast. If that happens, it could lead to increased opportunities for South Dakota ethanol.”

“The goal of SD Trade is to advocate for South Dakota producers and South Dakota businesses,” he explained. “We do that by setting up meetings with regulators in that country. We talk about the products that we’re trying to export. We seek common ground and help create educational opportunities to share information firsthand from a producer.”   

The goal is to sell more South Dakota products. This group creates connections with government officials in a country so that when opportunities arise, they know who to call. They advocate for potential business.

“While Canada and Mexico are huge markets for South Dakota corn and soybeans, we think there’s a market for beef and ethanol within the United Kingdom,” Fonkert said. “We want to make inroads with our friends in Europe. We also see a lot of potential connections with growth in Asia. We had a trade mission to Japan and Taiwan last year to learn about how they’re doing from a food production standpoint. It was amazing to learn that in both countries farming is not necessarily a growing industry. The land doesn’t support older farms.”

He continued, “We’re going to continue to look at selling corn and beans through the Pacific Northwest to Asia. We’re watching very closely what’s happening with China right now. I won’t comment on that, but I think we all know that does have an impact.”  

The whole point of trade missions is building a relationship because a certain amount of business can be done online. These conditions are most effective when you have people in the same room talking, building relationships and then continuing that relationship over a period of time.

Fonkert said he has a great job, “We help businesses make real sales, which creates more jobs, and more opportunities. That increases the quality of life for people in South Dakota. I don’t think there is a better job.”

Trade promotion, though international trade, is the best way to support existing businesses. Fonkert said, “Our job is to help them grow their capacity by getting market access. Making connections can help them make more sales which can help them grow their business. With international markets, the way we see it, each time a business makes a sale internationally that is a new dollar coming into our economy. That’s really adding value.”

SD Trade has offices in Sioux Falls and Rapid City. For additional information, visit http://www.southdakotatrade.com.