TASKS: December 27, 2012 1. Proposal for Dr. Armstrong from Precision Mechanical 2. SLEC Implementation Schedule 3.

Leesville Follow-Up: Mayor, Skip 4. B&J Machine Apps; D. Baker-Business Plan 5. Mexico Partnership Proposal 6. Jay Moon-Guanajuato 7. USAID Pre-Application-Ken Lee 8. Snyder TX & EDI follow-up 9. PREPARE Project Application 10. Greece Project Details (re-write PQ proposal) 11. M-K Proposal (AOL) from 2005 (e-mail to Chris) He reached down from on high and took hold of me. He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me because, even though I am a wretch, He delighted in me. He loved me.The Bible
Fluent In Foreign Business
by: Alexander Gordin

PREFACE
The deals take us to strange places, exotic towns, abandoned mines, through the deals we learn peoples faces and find the truth between the lines.

Exporting American-made goods and services has become a hot topic as the U.S. slowly rebounds from one the worst economic recessions. Timing is everything. And with a favorable exchange rate for the U.S. dollar, our exports are even more competitive in overseas markets. Other factors favoring U.S. business include the global economic recovery, surging demand from emerging markets, the U.S. governments financing, advocacy and policy initiative, and the cachet of the mark MADE IN THE USA. American service and manufacturing businesses have much to gain from an expanding export market. It is a widely held view among U.S. economists that increased exports can lead the way to a long-term business recovery. Growing demand in emerging markets creates new opportunities for American companies to capitalize on a competitive currency by serving the burgeoning consumer classes. In addition to a revival of exports of U.S. consumer goods, accelerating infrastructure development in emerging economies presents opportunities for U.S. manufacturers of capital equipment and industrial materials and services. Capital-intensive sectors such as airport and road construction, real estate development, telecommunications, aerospace, healthcare, and transportation have traditionally been strong for American manufacturers. Unique opportunities exist in regions with emerging economies such as in Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South and Central America, as growth in these countries spurs trade with the U.S. The so-called BRIC countries India, Brazil, Russia and China have long been in a class by themselves as growth leaders. Despite the emergence of low-labor cost Asian and South American competition and a strong European presence, American companies are and will remain highly competitive in a number of international sectors and industries. Opportunities abound, but are often riddled with pitfalls and traps for the unwary. A U.S. company competing in the global arena must be informed, vigilant and prepared in order to successfully exploit these opportunities.

The Global State of Mind

Skeptics say that U.S. companies will not be able to compete with low-cost goods and services from China, Brazil, and Korea; yet Germany, which has some of the highest labor costs in the world, is an export powerhouse. Holland and Sweden also have highly paid workers, but are successful at exporting. Why? Business people in these countries think, eat, sleep, and literally live exports. They are also sophisticated and proactive when it comes to direct investment into foreign markets. Its that simple. With domestic markets much smaller than ours, they have to look beyond their borders for business. Then they dig in and learn the foreign cultures and develop relationships. They design goods and services that can be adapted in various countries. They are committed to finding ways of selling their goods and services and state borders arent going to stop them. These companies are not all major European conglomerates either. They include small and medium size businesses across many industry sectors. Though untapped export and investment opportunities exist for many small and medium-sized enterprises, international trade and investments are simply not part of the typical American business mindset, perhaps because we have historically been fortunate to have such a huge marketplace right here within our own borders. Yet, fear and simple lack of information on how to effectively do business abroad deter executives from venturing into the international business arena. Exporting and overseas investment is a state of mind. But it seems to be an afterthought for many U.S. companies that betrays a palpable lack of commitment. Ive seen it many times: a U.S. business hires a mid-level international sales manager usually an American with extensive foreign sales experience. He is assigned a massive territory with a great sounding acronym, such as EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), often with a paltry marketing budget or minimal technical support. Then he is sent across the globe to look for qualified distributors. I often wonder why, in

contrast, even small American companies have domestic sales forces to cover multiple towns, counties, cities, or maybe even states, but when these same companies go overseas, they assign entire continents to a single person with limited administrative and financial resources. How do you change this mindset? How can American companies enter new markets abroad? Fundamentally transforming the way American businesses think of exports and international business is critical to the expansion of U.S. export and foreign direct investment. Heres how. 1. Comprehensive Education of Exporters and International Investors. We must establish an education system where exports, foreign culture and international business are taught not as a byproduct, but as a core economic discipline at all levels. As a nation, we dont offer the intensive training or formal education required to prepare exporters and direct investors. Neither do we have a system of measuring and standardizing the quality of export organizations. This must change. 2. Enhanced Export and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Infrastructure. We must refine and enhance our export and FDI infrastructure and better focus our resources on preparing and assisting promising companies to effectively sell and invest overseas. This has to start with expanded funding to appropriate agencies such as the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), which delivers $47 in exports for every dollar it spends funding project feasibility studies and reverse trade missions. We also need our government resources to be leveraged with private-public partnerships (or PPPs). We need to involve more banks and private finance companies in funding exports and finance American investments overseas. 3. Increased National Focus on Exports. Exports must become a part of our national agenda, on par with healthcare, housing, real estate, and education, consistently and on a sustainable basis not just when times are bad. When asked to name the top initiatives that can improve our economy, the average American should come up with exports. The Small Business Administration reports that a mere 1 percent of all U.S. companies are currently engaged in exporting. 4. Build a Securities Market Approach to Exports and Foreign Direct Investment. The U.S. export and direct investment industry should take a cue from the securities industry, which is based on analysis and realtime distribution of information. Imagine how our industry could be served if, in the wake of Japans nuclear crisis, one or more export and investment analysts covering the nuclear sector would highlight third-country export or investment opportunities for U.S. companies. I hope that this book will make a small contribution in helping American companies expand their businesses abroad, whether through exports of goods and services or through direct foreign investment. Fluent in Foreign Business is intended to serve business executives and entrepreneurs considering taking their businesses into the international arena. It is also targeted at their business advisors, i.e. accounting and legal professionals who know their U.S. operations intimately and are in the position to help make tough decisions with respect to international expansion. This book will benefit those of you who are developing or expanding existing import-export businesses. It will also benefit those of you who are considering investing directly into the foreign markets and operating locally in multiple industry segments. The book combines basic business concepts with practical business insight and revisits some of my own experiences some defining moments, some cautionary tales. It is not a guide to customs, holidays, economic data, or market research. It is not a textbook on import-export trading or a compilation of forms and guidelines. There are many government and private resources that provide that information. Instead, this book is intended to help business executives develop a framework for strategic decision making, access the necessary information to evaluate the relative benefits of foreign market expansion to their organizations, and carefully prepare organizationally and personally for the demands, intricacies, and obstacles that prevail in the world of international deal making.

This book examines the ABCs of researching, planning and entering foreign markets such as the decision making process, the importance of selecting the right partners, practical steps one can take to make the search for local partners more effective and efficient, construction of an in-country support network, and managing corruption, culture gaps, and competition. Government agencies such as foreign ministries, the U.S. Department of State, diplomatic corps, and foreign services have so-called charm schools to train employees to handle themselves in foreign markets. A number of leading universities offer programs in international business, geopolitics, and global affairs. However, the majorities of businesspeople who end up doing business in foreign markets or with foreign companies have never attended, or will not attend, such programs. Fluent in Foreign is for them. Fluent in Foreign Business is based on my twenty plus years of experience in building and managing companies across borders and thirty plus years of international exposure. I have visited 39 countries, lived in five, and have done business in 31, three of which I have never visited. Before we embark on an educational and entertaining journey, meet Global Felix. He will pose provocative questions, the answers to which will help shape your international business strategy.

Although many of these questions come up in connection with doing business domestically, they take on a different dimension in an international context. There is less room for error, the issues are more complex in the face of additional laws and regulations, and the repercussions of a bad answer can be more brutal.

Chapter 12 Tools of the trade

Can you spell image and credibility?
In Chapter 2, I told you about my language translation experience while on a U.N. consulting mission in Belarus . Something else happened during that mission that illustrates the importance of cultivating a proper image and of earning favorable recognition among your peers.

As my seminar on strategy to commercialize technology abroad progressed through its first morning, I started noticing blank, disinterested expressions take over a significant percentage of my distinguished audience. This could have meant one of three things: (i) They did not care for the material an unlikely fact since we had preapproved materia ls and the presentation in advance; (ii) My presentation was boring a possibility, but I am generally a fairly robust presenter, or (iii) something else was going on that I was not aware of. I called a short recess and ended up in a washroom, where I got my first clue. Then I went up to a group of my students congregating in the hallway for a cigarette break and asked point blank what the problem was. What I heard gave me a very good idea of what to do when we returned to class. The scientists complained of two things: foreigners who came to look at their technologies either did not take them seriously and tried to take advantage of them, or, were interested in purchasing or licensing but offered such ridiculously low prices that it was almost tantamount t o theft. When we reconvened, I asked permission to join the class in a roundtable discussion and stepped off the podium leaving the course materials behind. What followed was a candid discussion on how the scientists are viewed through the eyes of the fore igner. We talked about the filthy bathrooms in the Academy of Sciences that lacked working lights, soap and toilet tissues. We talked about their low self -image that they wore on their sleeves, about the importance of personal hygiene and clean clothes, an d about the importance of having the confidence and the knowledge of what is happening in their chosen fields in other countries. It was amazing, sad, and shocking to watch respected, grey haired scientists, some of whom were world leaders in their disciplines, sit there like 15-year-old teenagers with their mouths half open. The old Soviet system had given them a strong scientific education and the ability to invent, but it stripped many of them of self-esteem and basic cultural necessities. My message to them was clear: Until you learn to respect yourselves, no one will respect you. You are not wealthy, but it does not mean you cannot be dignified. Look at yourselves through the eyes of your counterparties and see what they see. Unless you change, until you adjust your environment to reflect your desired stature, until you make an effort to stay abreast of the latest developments in the world, you will continue to be treated as second rate. A week later, at the close of the seminar, the class broke into applause. At the reception that followed, many of the scientists presented me with gifts and thanked me for what they considered to be the most valuable non-scientific lecture of their lives. I could see marked transformation in a number of them. Heads held high, gaze firm, nails and hair clean, shirts pressed to a crisp, and pants creased razor sharp. As they say image is everything. It is not who you are, it is who THEY THINK you are. You can be a highly credible, renowned, successful businessperson back home, but if you are not perceived this way, or unable to convey that image through your marketing, demeanor, and presentation, you are severely handicapping yourself. On the flip side, it is sometimes possible to leverage up a young and less established business up through clever packaging and promotion. In foreign markets, image, appearances, your understanding of the local issues, and your ability to relate to people in your chosen markets matter greatly, thus conduct yourself accordingly. Doing business in a foreign country is like being on stage all the time. The U.S. is a highly polarizing country for most folks abroad. They both hate it and will look for ways to confirm and reinforce their views through your behavior or they love it and you should not be the one to shatter their perception.

Notwithstanding the views, you need to be on guard constantly, both in business and personal settings. First, there are the usual dos and donts: No business casual dress for business meetings, no lounge wear on days off in the hotel, or on tours. Leave flannel shirts and cowboy boots at home, make-up for women at all times, no excessive jewelry, no talks of local or U.S. politics, no discussion of religion, no excessive drinking, or partying no matter how tempting the local hosts may make it. Do dress well at all times, invest in a nice pen, wristwatch, cufflinks, briefcase, and luggage, hire a decent car and stay at a nice hotel. You will be surprised to see how much these things both matter and augment your image and stature. If you are thinking of trying the Sam Walton shtick (someone who was filthy rich and ultra successful coming off as a regular Joe riding a beat up pick up and wearing jeans and a cowboy shirt) dont. You will be completely misunderstood. Do learn and acknowledge peoples birthdays and call to congratulate them on holidays. Write thank you notes after every meeting, even though you are not likely to get many back. Even if a project or a deal requires intensity in its execution, try not to act like a bull in a china shop. Become cognizant of the pace of your chosen country, try to adjust to that pace, and only then will you see where you can force things to go faster and where you should pull back and respect the countrys culture, traditions and work ethic. For example, mid-day siestas in Italy are a sacred time for rest and family interaction. No business of any kind should be conducted during that time. In Russia, New Years Day and a few days afterwards are completely off limits for business, no matter how urgent. In Europe, a month long vacation is just that: a vacation. No one works while on vacation. People in other countries prize their work-life balance much more than we do in the U.S. Respect that and you will be respected back. In business negotiations take great care to learn how to properly pronounce everyones name. Arrange business cards in front of you to correspond to the sitting positions of your counterparties. Even if you do not speak the language try to thank your hosts in their language. Do not refuse offers of coffee or tea, do pay tribute to your hosts, and always be punctual, even if your hosts are sometimes not. Have patience you will need plenty of it. And do not promise things you cannot deliver. After every meeting, send a summary to your hosts to confirm your understanding and plan of action. You will be surprised how often people attending the same meeting walk out with different understandings of what transpired. If you are invited to dinner, going Dutch is usually not a good idea. Either pick up the whole check, or let your host do so and thank him or her profusely. Do reciprocate either at the next dinner, or when they come to visit you in the U.S. Do not overpromise and keep your word. Just like in the U.S., you will find yourself dealing with essentially three kinds of people. There are those who promise and deliver, those who are full of hot air, and those who simply disappear from the radar smack in the middle of a transaction. Yet, all these people carry market information and can validate your reputation. Therefore, keeping your word in doing business abroad is not only the right thing to do, but also the most viable long-term strategy. Since many emerging and frontier markets are just that, meaning that the business folk there do not have as much business or professional experience as their U.S. or European counterparts, you will often find that the pace of transactions or negotiations is much slower, informal, socially slanted, and at times inefficient. Do not fall into the trap of adopting the pace, informality, and inefficiency. Although it is very important to understand the pace and the culture and to adapt to the informality and social behavior, you must always hold yourself and your behavior to a higher standard of professional conduct. If everyone in the foreign country wears shorts and flip flops to a picnic, more appropriate attire for you would be a pair of casual shoes, pressed jeans or slacks, and a polo shirt. If alcohol is served, certainly do not talk business and do not engage in drinking contests with your hosts, as you will most likely lose the battle along with their respect.

Above all, refrain from acquiring the bad habits of inefficiency. Certain practices that we consider trivial in the U.S., such as getting a document signed or delivered overnight, notarizing a contract, or preparing a letter take on a whole different level of complexity in some foreign countries. Thus it becomes normal for people to delay document review and signings, hide behind bureaucratic behavior and waste lots of time. When doing business in those countries for a prolonged period of time, there is a threat that you may assimilate and succumb to some of these practices. Be careful. If you and your business become vulnerable, you will lose the competitive advantages of being a professional and productive foreigner in a foreign country. Since, in many emerging markets, communications and mail systems are not nearly as well developed as those back home, learn the local capabilities and limitations early. Know where to get presentations printed and bound on short notice and where to find a high-speed Internet connection. (Hint: find the best hotel business center or go wireless.) Learn how to deliver courier letters and overnight packages. In many places, the mail can take forever to arrive at its intended destination. Instead, packages or letters are passed via train conductors, bus drivers or flight attendants. Think of things like fuses, ink cartridges, converters, cell phone minutes, presentational materials and audio visual aids. I will never forget when I had to download and print an important presentation that I had to give to the Presidential Secretariat that had been emailed to me 20 minutes before the meeting. The problem was that the hotel, which my hosts had graciously provided for me, had a dial-up Internet connection and a three page per minute dot matrix printer. This was in 2003, by the way. I made the meeting with one minute to spare, but the stress and anxiety cost me a year of my life. I will also never forget the time our team ordered a special high speed Internet line to be installed while we were working on a feasibility study in Dnipropetrovsk. The line connection was so poor that we ended up doing the bulk of our emailing on our Blackberries. In Chapter 14, I address essential personal logistic tools such as local transportation, in-country travel, communications, and food. Careful attention to these details is de rigueur when doing business abroad. To those who reside in the mature markets of the U.S., Canada or Europe, such things are often taken for granted. But in most of the world, attending to personal logistics and communications requires specific and careful attention and can often mean difference between success and failure. The moral of my stories? Do not take the tools of your trade lightly when doing business abroad and you will be well rewarded for your foresight.

FOR APPLICANTS
Applicant Login Find Grant Opportunities
Basic Search Browse by Category Browse by Agency Advanced Search Email Subscription

Home > Find Grant Opportunities > Search Grant Opportunities > Search Results > Synopsis

Coastal Program

Synopsis

Full Announcement

Application

Get Registered Apply for Grants Track My Application Applicant Resources Search FAQs, User Guides and Site Information The synopsis for this grant opportunity is detailed below, following this paragraph. This synopsis contains all of the updates to this document that have been posted as of 11/14/2012 . If updates have been made to the opportunity synopsis, update information is provided below the synopsis.

If you would like to receive notifications of changes to the grant opportunity click send me change notification emails . The only thing APPLICANT SYSTEM-TO- you need to provide for this service is your email address. No other information is requested. SYSTEM

FOR GRANTORS ABOUT GRANTS.GOV HELP CONTACT US SITE MAP

Any inconsistency between the original printed document and the disk or electronic document shall be resolved by giving precedence to the printed document. Document Type: Funding Opportunity Number: Opportunity Category: Posted Date: Creation Date: Original Closing Date for Grants Notice F13AS00022 Discretionary Nov 14, 2012 Nov 14, 2012 Sep 28, 2013 This date is the end of the Federal fiscal year.

Applications:

For apllication instructions, contact the local Coastal Program office. For Office contact information, visit http://www.fws.gov/coastal/con tactUs.html Sep 28, 2013 This date is the end of the Federal fiscal year. For apllication instructions, contact the local Coastal Program office. For Office contact information, visit http://www.fws.gov/coastal/con tactUs.html Oct 01, 2013 Cooperative Agreement

Current Closing Date for Applications:

Archive Date: Funding Instrument Type:

Category of Funding Activity: Environment Natural Resources Category Explanation: Expected Number of Awards: 500 Estimated Total Program Funding: Award Ceiling: Award Floor: CFDA Number(s): Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: $6,000,000 $0 $0 15.630 -- Coastal Program No

Eligible Applicants
State governments County governments City or township governments Special district governments Independent school districts Public and State controlled institutions of higher education Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized) Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments) Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than

institutions of higher education Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education Private institutions of higher education Individuals For profit organizations other than small businesses Small businesses

Additional Information on Eligibility: Agency Name

Fish and Wildlife Service

Description
The Coastal Program is a voluntary, incentive-based program that provides technical and financial assistance to coastal communities and landowners to restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat on public and private lands. The Coastal Program is not a conventional grants program, in that it does not solicit projects through a request for proposals. Instead, projects are developed strategically, in coordination with partners, and with substantial involvement from Service field biologists. If you are interested in working with the Coastal Program, please visit our website to find the nearest Coastal Program office. http://www.fws.gov/coastal/contactUs.html

Link to Additional Information

http://www.fws.gov/coastal/contactUs.html

If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact:
Michael Murray Michael_Murray@fws.gov Michael_Murray@fws.gov