UCLA Anderson’s Export Champions program was one of 50 innovators highlighted in National Journal’s special report, “Back in Business.” The program was one of four finalists in the “Expanding Exports” category. The recognition was announced at a Washington, D.C., conference attended by UCLA Anderson Senior Lecturer Robert Spich, who also participated in a panel on export-oriented programs.
The magazine’s report sought to find “pragmatic problem-solvers in business, the civic sector, local government, and partnerships that creatively combine all three.” They recognized innovative groups across business, nonprofit, government and public-private sectors working to solve what they termed “10 key challenges” facing the country: increasing exports; reviving domestic manufacturing; training a 21st-century workforce; reforming higher education and health care; expanding energy production; formulating regional economic strategies; “disrupting” government; promoting digital innovation; and financing infrastructure.
Export Champions is an option of Anderson’s Global Access Program—the field study component of the Fully Employed MBA program. Export Champions uses the GAP model in recruiting companies and teams. Projects focus on helping small- to mid-size California companies accomplish their goal of entering export markets. Export Champions is aimed at student teams interested in developing export-oriented plans.
Spich founded the program and runs it in conjunction with the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. The program pairs businesses with an executive team that provides six months of research into a target foreign market and delivers a business plan with strategic analysis. The Export Champions program is supported by an SBA grant which implements the goals of the National Export Initiative.
Click here for more on Export Champions, here for GAP, here for expanded coverage in UCLA Today and here for the National Journal story.
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