International Business Center to Open Doors

The International Business Center in Santa Ana, the Mexican government’s first trade center in the United States, isn’t quite ready for its big opening next week.

The first-floor lobby is to display Mexican products that will entice local companies to trade with their counterparts south of the border. On Thursday, workers were busily sanding and polishing in preparation for next week’s opening.

Santa Ana and Mexican officials say it will be shipshape by the time Mexican President Vincente Fox arrives for the grand opening next Thursday. And they hope it will be doing great business when President Bush pops in by month’s end.

After they scrambled to secure almost $600,000 of funding and a location for the first California-Mexico trade center in America, a few touch-ups were nothing to sweat about, they said.

“In 30 days from now, people will be standing at the elevator, trying to figure out how to get in,” Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido said Thursday.

Officials hope the center, at 10th and Broadway in downtown Santa Ana, will bring a welcome infusion of cross-border commerce to an area dominated by county government buildings and small businesses.

City leaders are sure their investment will pay off in the form of increased business and revenue, especially with Mexico, which will eventually house representatives from all 32 of its states in the building.

Pulido said the increased presence of Mexican businesses should help Orange County double its exports south of the border, currently estimated at about $2 billion a year, in the next four years.

The center, the culmination of almost three years of work by Santa Ana officials, will focus on small and mid-sized businesses, and hopes to assist 600 firms on both sides of the border by providing legal and tax advice, networking and temporary U.S. facilities to Mexican businesses.

Although Orange County is the world’s 33rd-largest economy, “where can you go to do international business now?” asked Pulido.

“Nowhere,” he said.

Juan Hernandez, Mexican secretary of human development offices and immigrants abroad, said he hopes Mexicans will also benefit.

“We want to make this a two-way street,” he said.

Some local businessmen have been waiting eagerly for the center to open. Larry Aguilar, head of Secure Communication Systems Inc., was thrilled when he took a quick tour of the center. Where others saw an unfinished office, Aguilar saw business opportunities.

“It’s early in the game,” said Aguilar, who manufacturers durable computers fit for outdoor use. “Soon [the center] will pay off.”

The lack of an international business center made it difficult for entrepreneurs such as Aguilar to venture into Mexico, he said. Aguilar, who has sold about $1 million in equipment to Turkey and several hundred thousand dollars’ worth to Japan, has tried to do business in Mexico, but said he was always stymied by regulations and unreliable phone systems.

“Most of the time, I wouldn’t know who to call. And even if I did, it’s hard to get through,” he said.

Although Santa Ana officials had been trying to attract an international trade center for several years, their efforts shifted into high gear when Fox was elected in late 2000.

One of Fox’s pet projects was to open a trade center in America within the first 100 days of his term. Although several cities competed for the center, Santa Ana’s diversity and potential won him over. The Santa Ana City Council also approved nearly $600,000 in subsidies over three years for the center.

Santa Ana officials are also in talks with other countries interested in sending representatives.

Other Southern California cities may soon follow Santa Ana’s lead. Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s staff has been engaged in preliminary discussions with Mexican officials in recent weeks, a spokeswoman said.