Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/681933
6 Worcester Business Journal • May 23, 2016 www.wbjournal.com A t t o r n e y s & B u s i n e s s A d v i s o r s W W W . D A R R O W E V E R E T T . C O M R H O D E I S L A N D | M A S S A C H U S E T T S | N E W Y O R K deal·mak·ers ˈdēlˌmākər/ noun 1. (See DarrowEverett L L P) Open the Door 508-347-5056 • www.osv.org/inn Old Sturbridge Inn and Reeder Family Lodges A T O L D S T U R B R I D G E V I L L A G E Your stay helps to support our museum! • Large Rooms • Conference Room • On-site Spa Services • Quiet Country Setting • Free Parking • Exercise Room • Free Wireless Internet • Free Continental Breakfast Their next business, SoClean, is an Oxford manufacturer making the world's first automated cleaning system for sleep apnea-aiding CPAP equip- ment. Business has more than doubled since 2011 and will triple again this year. Because SoClean makes such a niche product, the company is working to get it on the market wherever it's needed. That means international markets, which currently bring in about 13 per- cent of business annually, will continue to be a big focus going forward, Schmidt said. "Sometimes people don't grow any- more in the U.S., and then they think about international. That is a mistake," Schmidt said. "You have to think global from very beginning." Whether they're introducing a new product, supplying parts to foreign companies or expanding their own facilities, Central Massachusetts manu- facturers see exporting as a way to take their business to the next level. SoClean currently sells to Europe, BY LAURA FINALDI Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer F or years, Michael Schmidt ran VenMill Industries, a manufacturer of disk repair machines for video stores and libraries where 30 percent of business was conducted abroad. As the disk repair business started to dwindle away, the team decided to change course, knowing exporting would be an integral part of whatever they did next. Manufacturers find international success takes proactive, persistent, relationship approach Worcester metal former and processor Kinefac has been an exporter since the 1960s and has machines on all seven continents. P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y