By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Hoosier agriculture-related companies interested in financial help to start or expand their businesses overseas should consider getting pre-approved for the 2009 Branded Program, a program official said last week.

The cost-share program provides 50 percent reimbursement on pre-approved activities, said Lesley Taulman, Indiana State Department of Agriculture international trade program manager.
“The emphasis is on the ‘Made in the USA’ brand,” Taulman said. “Agriculture is very reliant on exports and this is another tool for businesses to have to give them access to markets they wouldn’t normally have.”

To be eligible, businesses must be small- to medium-sized, which means no more than 500 employees for manufacturers and no more than 100 for wholesalers, she said.

The businesses also must deal in certain agricultural items, such as value-added processed foods and value-added wood products, she said. Fifty percent of the product’s content – excluding water and packaging – must originate in the United States, Taulman said.

Cost-share money is available for such things as travel to a trade show outside the U.S., modifications to a product’s label, advertising, point-of-sale material, press kits and freight costs to send sample shipments overseas, she said.

The 2009 program runs Jan. 1-Dec. 31, and the deadline for pre-approval for activities for next year is Oct. 1, 2008. Businesses may apply after that date, but approval could be based on the availability of funds, she said.

The program is funded through the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Taulman said. In 2007, 337 companies in the Midwest and Northeast received funds from the program.

Eligible companies may be reimbursed from a minimum of $2,500 to a maximum of $300,000 by the program, she said. The program charges a $200 application fee. An administrative fee of 6 percent of the approved funding allocation is also assessed.

While Indiana’s two largest agricultural export markets are Canada and Mexico, businesses are not limited to those two regions, Taulman said.

“The Asian market is one of the biggest, as middle class incomes are rising there,” she added. “But the companies can go anywhere in the world, anywhere they see the possibilities and potential for their products. It just depends on where their target market is.”

For more information, and to see a pre-qualification worksheet, go to www. brandedprogram.com or call Taulman at 317-233-1485.