MARILYN LOEWY
Orange County businesses are beginning to discover the rewards of exporting their products. And Marilyn Loewy, as president of the World Trade Center Assn. of Orange County, is helping to lead the way. Before taking a top job with the trade association, Loewy had her own export consulting business. She has lived abroad, is a frequent guest speaker and served on an export subcommittee during the Reagan Administration. She was interviewed her Irvine office by Times staff writer Chris Woodyard.
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Tell me about the World Trade Center Assn.
The World Trade Center Assn. of Orange County offers an exciting opportunity. We offer something no other organization offers because we’re a cornerstone for small- and medium-size companies. One of the scariest things in the world is going overseas and not having your own presence. Just sending a fax is a whole big deal. The World Trade Center has 240 facilities in more than 70 countries. If you join a world trade center, you belong to all of them. It gives small- and medium-size companies the opportunity that usually only large companies have.
How is export activity going for Orange County companies right now?
We find a lot of activity. People are scared. They not only see their job going away, but they see their industry going away. And they know it is not going to be replaced. So they know they cannot go to another company like they did before. People are becoming more innovative. And the place they are looking is exporting because they read so much in a newspaper about the one bright spot in Southern California: exports.
And what do you do?
I will, if I can, sit down and counsel them. We will try to walk through what it is they have done and get them starting their own juices flowing to think creatively and get them to look at their strengths and weaknesses. They need to ask, “What business would be good?” They like to go through the library and look at company and industry information. They come to mixers or events we’re putting on and talk to other people and find out what’s going on.
So what kinds of things are they exporting?
Always high tech, that never goes away. We still have the electronics and biomedical and the biotechnical. A lot of people are looking at things that are not so sophisticated and sexy. They are looking at some of the more common things like used jeans. Things that we typically take for granted, like used telephone equipment. It has a good price, it’s refurbished, it’s wanted in developing countries.
Are you surprised at how creative some of these ideas are?
Yes. It’s interesting the telephone calls you get. I get a lot of calls from foreigners in this country who are trying to explore activities and want to meet Americans.
They are looking to do deals in their home countries?
Yes. It’s usually, “I have a cousin in Panama City,” or “I have a cousin in Caracas. She’s a good artist and she does this, and do you think there would be a market here?” They want to import from their own countries. You also get a lot of calls from trade delegations that want to come here. A lot of times they turn out to be looky-loos here to find out how American companies put themselves together and manage themselves.
Why is Orange County a good place to be exporting from?
We have a lot of good people to employ. We have good financing mechanisms available. We have good infrastructure. We have good government support. We have a great educational environment.
Are we hurt by lack of a larger airport, by lack of air freight facilities?
Yes, that’s hurting us. We need to do something about it. I think we should turn El Toro, if we lose it as a Marine base, into a major international airport for ourselves, and I think we should move freight. We never had to worry about bringing new business in. We were always kind of, “We’ve got too much.” That’s not the case anymore.
You think the county needs to sell itself harder?
Absolutely. I think one of the key things our local government needs to focus on is making the county more visible and promoting it. We just made some videos called “Orange County,” and we sent them to every world trade center so they will know we exist. When somebody comes in and asks about California, our video comes out and they get to see it. We are now going to offer this to all the cities to allow them to put a commercial on their city on each tape. We’re doing it for free. We’re getting someone in each community to support the cost. There will be a library of 31 tapes in every world trade center, one for each city that makes up Orange County.
Do you feel as if you are getting enough government support?
No. I want to partner with the cities. I would like to partner with the county, the state and the federal government. I don’t think any one partnership is going to cut it. I think it’s going to require a lot of things to happen. There are defense conversion funds available, which I want us to go after. I’m looking to open a NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) center. I would like some funds for that. I think there is a lot of opportunity. I think we have a good shot at tapping into those funds and taking advantage of our rightful share. Do you think people are waking up to these needs you are addressing for more partnering with government and to market the area better?
I would say yes. In the last year, there have been a lot of wake-up calls. When people wake up in the morning and hear about all the layoffs, I think slowly that has sunk in.
On ignorance about the benefits of exporting. . .
“I think there were a lot of players in the past who preferred to keep it all to themselves. By making it very mysterious, a lot of people didn’t try to enter it. It’s a matter of education and understanding.”
On help from the federal government in repairing the local economy. . .
“The Clinton Administration is very keen on helping Orange County, on helping Southern California. “
On Orange County’s isolationism. . .
“We need to start getting into the real world. Orange County has always been a place where we never needed to worry about inviting people here.”
On the lure of exporting. . .
“We find a lot of people who are coming out of aerospace, finance, who have good strong skills and are saying, ‘How can I translate this into my own business?’ ”
