Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. X X I I P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY ainebiz: What triggered your interest in the inter- national field? Dana Eidsness: When I was a kid, my parents sold everything we had and bought a red pick-up truck with a camper on the back and we traveled for a couple of years. At one point we lived on a beach in Manzanillo, Mexico, and later in Mexico City. Later at Portland High School, I was fortunate to be exposed to a variety of international history courses as well as a robust foreign language program where I studied French, Russian and Mandarin. e summer before my senior year, I went to Beijing to study Mandarin. I went on to study international service and development and then international relations and import/export management in col- lege, started my career in the private sector importing consumer goods and Climate change is really the only thing that matters now, and I want my future professional contributions to support resilience efforts and solutions. Maine North Atlantic Development Office (MENADO) 2 Portland Fish Pier, Portland Opened: January 2014 What the organization does: Part of Maine International Trade Center, MENADO was formed to increase trade, investment and collaborative activity between the State of Maine and the North Atlantic and to develop Maine's engagement in Arctic affairs. Contact: menado@mitc.com As director of Maine International Trade Center's Maine North Atlantic Development Office (MENADO), Dana Eidsness works to devel- op trade, investment and international collabora- tion opportunities for Maine businesses and academic institutions in northern Europe, Atlantic Canada and Nordic countries. S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 9 22 Championing Maine's interests in the North Atlantic B y R e n e e C o R d e s Northern exposure Dana Eidsness Director Maine International Trade Center's Maine North Atlantic Development Office (MENADO)

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