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Architectural Association of Kenya to at leastprovide some education into how wastewatertreatment systems can generate water for reuse,and how our systems can be incorporated intosustainable projects for dwellings and resorts.”The SolutionLike many other successful small U.S. exporters,Jet turned to the U.S. government for help.“We’ve used the U.S. Commercial Service quiteextensively,” said Swinko. “Because our businessrelies on increasing the number of distributors,we look in developing countries for distributionpartners who are technically capable eitherbecause they’re currently in the water purificationor construction business.”Recently, Swinko used U.S. Commercial Servicesupport to expand into Southeast Asia and SouthAmerica. He recently returned from a trademission to Brazil that included four meetingswith potential distributors in São Paolo. “Thetrade mission itself was impressive, we met withhigh-level government officials and high-levelmanagement of potential clients. We receivedvery detailed technical presentations on theirenvironmental sustainability programs—andcertainly, from our perspective, the missionwas well worth the participation and the trip.We’ve already had detailed discussions with twocompanies, and three quote requests”Swinko added that Jet got a lot of new businessat very low cost. “The U.S. Commercial Servicespends a great deal of time learning about ourbusiness, learning about our company and therequirements for distributors in the location, andthen evaluates potential distributor partners andpartner companies in that area. They set up themeetings after they reviewed our requirementsand found good matches in terms of companypersonality and technical expertise.”The increase in global sales has been a boon forJet, which has grown to 30 employees including,recently, an engineer focused on internationalwork. And because most of Jet’s domestic businessdepends on residential construction, the exportsales helped keep the business growing during theU.S. housing market collapse.“Today, international business is about 25 percentof total revenue with some nice year-over-yeargrowth in the 30-plus percent range,” he said. “Thefuture outlook is maintaining those increases,especially in the markets where we have asignificant presence, like Africa, as well as theSouth American and Latin American countries.”Swinko believes there is room for considerablepotential for growth in developing countries.Lessons LearnedThere is considerable value in product “Madein the USA.” In Swinko’s experience: “In manycases the U.S. brand can compensate for thehigher price. Overseas buyers greatly respectour emphasis on environmental regulation.And U.S.-made equipment has a very positivereputation.” He also says buyers ask about non-U.S.components, so the more U.S. content, the better.Asked if Jet is a better company because of itsinternational experience, Swinko replied: “We’re abetter company because each of those countries,while they can use the basic equipment, dorequire some modification, do require particularlevels of service. And so that knowledge has reallydriven some of our innovation of the equipmentsystems we produce.”Jet plans to keep working with U.S. governmentexport assistance programs. “‘I’m from thegovernment and I’m here to help,’ has never beena laugh line for us. Just the opposite—we say,‘Welcome, and let’s go.’”Success Story: Jet Incorporated215