Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/563465
w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m S e p t e m b e r 2 0 15 • I NSIGH T | 17 I GREW UP IN APPLETON AND went to UW-Stevens Point for Spanish and French education. When there were no teaching jobs available, I worked for Fox Tractor in Appleton. ey were owned by Koehring Cranes & Excavators in Milwaukee. ey won a huge contract in Algeria, all French- speaking, and they were looking for a bilingual secretary. I knew how to type, and I had the French. I loved international business, and my career grew to include a small manufacturer in the 1980s. My boss set me up to go to Brazil. At the time, international business was all learn- by-doing. ey'd send me down to a country and say, 'Figure it out, OK? We think there's a market here.' What I like about today is that there's so much market research. We can take probably 80 percent of the risk out of the picture by doing all the premarket research. In the 1990s, I had the opportunity to go to Harley-Davidson and manage its international parts and accessories for 10 years. I found WMEP and I loved the mission of helping small to medium- size manufacturers be competitive and profitable. I want good jobs here. I don't want it to be a service economy, or a tourism economy. Roxanne Baumann on exporting: 'Figure it out' U P F R O N T FACE TIME P H O T O G R A P H B Y B I L L K A P I N S K I / I M A G E S T U D I O S , F O R I N S I G H T Roxanne Baumann, director of global engagement at the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership, wants Wisconsin companies to build their exporting business to help strengthen the state economy. Baumann, former president of the Milwaukee World Trade Association, recently sat down with IOM Editor Nikki Kallio to discuss how New North manufacturers can go global. [continued ] »