South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard says it's time for South Dakota to become a player on the world stage. The Small Business Administration and several other groups want to make that happen through exports.
It's not a big company with fewer than ten employees; but PS International exports its product to 30 countries on five continents.
“It is a niche business and there are not that many competitors nationwide. There are five or so that we directly compete with and we set ourselves apart by engineering, "Brett Sadler of PS International said.
PS International makes oil and water separators used by power plants, airports and rail yards. One of its subcontractors is in a little shop near Canton.
“It's a very small percentage, but success stories like this one are going on all over South Dakota and you wouldn't even know it," John Brown of the Small Business Administration said.
The Small Business Administration wants to help more companies have the same success with exporting as PS International. That's why it's holding a series of workshops with experienced exporters like Sadler to help other business owners.
Sadler has learned a lot over the years when dealing with foreign companies.
“We shipped equipment to China one time and they wanted to pay us 90 percent and we'll pay you the 10 percent once it gets here and that made sense to us; well once it got there, we never heard from them," Sadler said.
PS International solved that problem by billing its foreign buyers upfront. It's that kind of experience the SBA hopes will help others getting in on the export business.
“The bottom line is the bottom line. We want to help businesses increase their profits and exporting is the ticket to get there," Brown said.
Click here to learn more about the export workshops.
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