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V O L . X X I N O. I X M AY 4 , 2 0 1 5 18 E X P O R T S & I M P O R T S F O C U S with multiple platforms … We recog- nized mobile is becoming so impor- tant [as a marketing tool]." His company's logo, featuring an elegant line drawing of a lobster boat cutting through ocean waves with "Maine Coast" in bold letters beneath the image, has a closer affin- ity to Oriental line drawings than an Ogunquit art colony watercolor paint- ing. at's by design, Adams says: "We struggled to get it right. We want it to be recognizable worldwide, but we didn't want just an old-fashioned lobster and logo label." Great risk, great opportunity With almost $2 million invested in his new facility and not a single customer lined up when he opened Maine Coast Shellfish in 2011, Adams says his business plan targeting interna- tional markets has paid off, with the company achieving profitability in its first year with $7 million in overall sales. Top-line sales grew to $15 mil- lion in 2012, $25 million in 2013 and $40 million in 2014. He expects that torrid rate of growth will level off eventually and is already benchmarking his company against other comparable-sized shell- fish distributors to make sure he's on a sustainable path. He's just made his first executive hire, a controller who'll be helping him do just that. "We want to keep growing," he says. "We want to do it safely by miti- gating whatever risks we can without getting too risk-averse." Selling lobsters in international markets, Adams admits, is not for the faint-hearted. e "risks are consider- able" in Asia's lobster market, he says, with mortality, shipping delays and unpaid receivables being the primary headaches. Almost on cue, as he was being interviewed, one of his sales team tells him a shipment of lob- sters heading to China is held up in Newark's airport. e delay would extend the travel time from 48 hours to 60 hours. "Do we bring it back, or let it fly?" the salesman asks Adams, who's inclined to proceed but tells his sales- man to call the customer as back-up. "I don't want to make that deci- sion without including the customer," he says. "Yes, we want to make the delivery and it is unfortunate an airline can delay our shipment without any recourse for us … at's $20,000 worth of lobster we are making a bet on." e risk of not getting paid for a shipment, he says, also is a greater risk in an emerging market like China than in a mature one such as Europe, where longstanding and well-estab- lished customers are in place. "I've had some bad debt, and I've taken steps to mitigate the risk," he says. "But you have to take the risk if you're serious about [capturing a sig- nificant share of the export market.]" Building on a long fishing heritage Matt Jacobson, executive director of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, says Adams, the Ready brothers and other dealers deserve credit for expanding international markets for Maine lobsters. "It's important for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that the domestic market needs to grow too," he says. "e export market can serve as a buf- fer and help stabilize prices by broad- ening the overall customer base." From a marketing standpoint, Jacobson says there's no question that "Maine" has a strong cachet both for the domestic and interna- tional lobster trade. It's based on a long fishing heritage and images of independent lobstermen heading out from cozy rockbound harbors in the early morning and harvesting an ocean resource sustainably with con- servation measures such as notching the tails of egg-bearing females. Adams agrees, saying his success very much depends on sustaining dozens of fishing communities all along the coast of Maine. "We need each other," he says. "It takes many lobster fishermen, many harbors, to support what we do here. ey are all my partners." Ja m e s M c Ca rt h y , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r writer, can be reached at jmcc arthy @ mainebiz.biz and @ Jame sMainebiz » C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E 1 5 We link our knowledge with yours to achieve success. Six Offices in Maine / 207.989.4824 / ces-maine.com / Sensible Solutions SBA loan programs for exporters For businesses looking to get into exporting, there are three Small Business Administration loan pro- grams that can help. 1. Export Express loan program Offers financing up to $500,000. It is the simplest export loan product offered by the SBA and allows partici- pating lenders to use their own forms and procedures. The SBA determines eligibility and provides loan approval in 36 hours or less. Eligibility: Any business that has been in operation, although not nec- essarily in exporting, for at least 12 full months. Must demonstrate loan proceeds will support export activity. Use of proceeds: May be used for business purposes that will enhance a company's export development. Export Express can take the form of a term loan or a revolving line of credit. 2. Export Working Capital program Provides up to $5 million for export transactions. This loan has a low guar- anty fee and quick processing time. Eligibility: Contact the business's local lender to see if it is approved to under- write Export Working Capital loans. Use of proceeds: One, financing for suppliers, inventory, work in progress or production of export goods or ser- vices; two, working capital to support foreign accounts receivable dur- ing long payment cycles; and three, financing for stand-by letters of credit used as bid or performance bonds or as down payment guarantees. 3. International Trade Loan program The International Trade Loan offers loans up to $5 million for fixed assets and working capital. Eligibility: Available if the small busi- ness is in a position to expand exist- ing export markets or develop new export markets. Also available if the small business has been adversely affected by import competition. Use of proceeds: The borrower may use loan proceeds to acquire, con- struct, renovate, modernize, improve or expand facilities and equipment to be used domestically to produce goods or services related to international trade. For more information: Marilyn Geroux, the U.S. Small Business Administration's district director for Maine, urges businesses to contact John Joyce, regional director of interna- tional trade programs at the U.S. Export Assistance Center for New England, at 617-565-4305 or John.Joyce@sba.gov. S O U R C E : U.S. Small Business Administration, Maine district office

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