Working to sell Mexico as a market
Mexico's first Krispy Kreme, in Mexico City, opened in January. David Stamey, North Carolina's trade representative to Mexico, helped coordinate the opening. Stamey predicts the Mexican market for North Carolina goods will grow as young Mexicans make major buys
PUEBLA, Mexico -- At 6-foot-3, David Stamey was hard to miss as he circled the floor of Exintex, Mexico's largest textile trade show.
With silver cuff links in the shape of North Carolina, the state's trade representative shook hands with potential buyers and the director of the local chamber of commerce. Around them, companies from other nations showcased industrial weaving machines, models in low-cut dresses and free T-shirts -- anything to attract Mexican buyers.
The 14 North Carolina companies represented at Exintex last month skipped the flashy fare. They instead relied on Stamey, who had designed a pavilion to market their textile machinery, manufacturing and transportation businesses.
Mexico is often blamed for stealing textile jobs from North Carolina, but Stamey trumpets the potential of the Mexican market to boost the state's traditional industries. And some companies credit him with helping them expand exports to Mexico in the face of competition from Asian manufacturers.
North Carolina exported more than $1.4 billion in goods to Mexico last year. That is an increase of $100 million from the previous year, with knit apparel the top export. The state Department of Commerce said that so far this fiscal year, Stamey's office had a direct hand in $6.3 million in sales to Mexico. That amount is up $700,000 from last fiscal year.
Stamey "is very outgoing, speaks the language very, very well, and he's been there long enough to build up a network," said Melissa Neal, who once worked with Stamey promoting North Carolina technology companies abroad. Now she works at a Raleigh software company and is talking to Stamey about ways to sell software in Mexico.
In addition to the office in Mexico City, the state Commerce Department runs trade offices in Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo and Toronto. Of the six, only Mexico City and Hong Kong posted a sales increase this year.
Businesses rely on the state's trade representatives to attract attention, bridge culture and language gaps, and broker deals.
Stamey has helped with $6.3 million in sales to Mexico.
"They know about the financial situation, the legal situation and how companies can protect themselves," said Roger Rains, president of the N.C. World Trade Association, whose 500 members promote international trade. "Without that kind of support, just a lot of people, particularly small businesses, would be pretty much out there on their own."
North Carolina had high hopes when it opened its Mexico City office 10 years ago. The North American Free Trade Agreement had just passed, lowering tariffs and transportation costs.
Stamey, 34, took over six years ago as sales were rising. Then the state's textile industry contracted. Jobs moved south. Mexico became a marketing nightmare: home to cheap labor and a population with little disposable income. North Carolina companies began looking farther afield.
Stamey is trying to reverse the trend, working with a frozen budget to simultaneously market North Carolina companies in Mexico and convince them of Mexico's potential.
With an annual budget of $226,380, including his $97,000 salary, Stamey and an assistant run the office from his home in the west Mexico City neighborhood of Lomas Derreyes. The former guesthouse of a nearby mansion, the house features a terrace that doubles as a conference room.
Some of the 28 other states with trade offices in Mexico have larger budgets, staffs and offices. Some have divisions representing a single city, such as San Antonio.
But none mounted as big a showing as North Carolina at Exintex in Puebla, a textile stronghold about three hours south of Mexico City.
Stamey is the only North Carolinian among the state's six trade representatives. The rest are from the countries where they work.
A Statesville native, he learned Spanish while playing professional basketball for a year in Spain after graduating from Furman University in 1992 with a degree in economics.
He went on to promote North Carolina's agriculture to Latin America and Europe for four years as an international trade specialist with the N.C.
Personal touch
He prides himself on his personal touch, on his database of contacts that connect North Carolina companies with Mexican buyers.
"The key to it is developing that database every day, and not just having it but keeping in personal contact with people," Stamey said.
He travels in Mexican social circles that few North Carolinians ever see, where business people eat at steakhouses, travel in chauffeured Mercedes and fish in Cancun.
Mexico is a developing country, and the bulk of its people are poor by American standards. But a small percentage of its large population controls great wealth.
More than 20 million people live in Mexico City alone, and so the estimated 2 percent who are wealthy constitute a sizeable market, Stamey tells North Carolina companies.
"People wear three kinds of watches in Mexico," he likes to say, "You either have a Rolex, a Casio or you don't have a watch."
North Carolina companies face international competition for the Rolex crowd's business.
Talk among North Carolina businessmen at the textile show often turned to how many companies have moved plants to China and how much bigger the Chinese textile show, Shanghaitex, was earlier this year. It generated $4.5 million in projected sales by North Carolina companies to China, compared with $1.2 million in sales at Exintex.
Stamey said he battles cheap competition by making it easier for Mexican companies to buy North Carolina exports than Asian alternatives.
Krispy Kreme plans 20 more stores in Mexico in the next few years. This one opened in January.
Connecting people
At the Puebla trade show, Stamey was there to help Ignacio Fregoso. Fregoso, whose company makes pillows, comforters and other bedding, had done business with Asian companies before he approached a North Carolina businessman who sold machines that make fibers. The North Carolina man didn't speak Spanish, and Fregoso was stuck.
Stamey intervened and discovered Fregoso wasn't interested in buying the fiber machines -- he needed fiber stuffing instead. So Stamey took him to see a salesman from Charlotte-based Consolidated Textiles, and Fregoso made plans to see some samples. It could mean $374,000 in monthly sales for Consolidated.
North Carolina companies can hire Mexican consultants, appeal to the U.S. Commerce Office in Mexico City or the U.S. Embassy for help. Many prefer to go through Stamey.
"It's better from my experience to work with a state rep than the embassy," said Luis Viniegra, a Mexican salesman for the Charlotte office of Aplix, an international manufacturer of hook-and-loop fasteners. "They send you to a Web site. David follows up and goes to the plant."
Last month, Charlotte-based Bojangles' sent Eric Newman, executive vice president and general counsel, to explore options in Mexico. Stamey took him on a tour of North Carolina companies in Mexico City, from Thomasville and Broyhill furniture showrooms to Mexico's first Krispy Kreme, which opened in January.
Stamey helped coordinate the Krispy Kreme opening, complete with mariachis. He invited a slew of contacts from his database.
It's a near-replica of the one on Raleigh's Person Street: Same menu, sugar-coated conveyor belt and a neon sign with the Spanish version of "Hot Now." During the next few years, 20 more Krispy Kreme outlets are scheduled to open across the country.
In that time, Stamey predicts the market for North Carolina goods will grow as half of Mexico's population -- now younger than 25 -- begins to settle down and make major purchases. In 10 years, he sees Mexican customers filling their homes with High Point furniture and mattresses from Mebane and buying RTP software.
"And by then," he said, "they will all be eating Krispy Kreme."