Maine firms, development agencies head to Quebec with exports in mind

BANGOR – The Maine International Trade Center next month is leading a business-connections trip to Quebec City, host next month for FuturAllia, a French-language business-to-business networking affair that organizers say is the largest event of its kind in the world.

To date, representatives from 11 companies – located in communities from Caribou to South Berwick and representing a range of economic sectors – and four development organizations have signed on, according to senior trade specialist Wade Merritt, director of MITC’s Bangor office. Merritt is leading the 20-member delegation, the largest group from Maine to attend so far. Delegations to the 1998 and 2000 editions of FuturAllia numbered eight to 10 participants.

“I’m very, very pleased with the response,” Merritt said Monday. “It’s a lot better than we thought it would be, with the down economy and people wanting to stay home [due to the war].”

First held in Poitiers, France, in 1991, FuturAllia is aimed at small and medium-size companies seeking to enter the export market or expand a current list of export customers. Participants from around the world attend the event in search of buying, selling, consulting and investment opportunities.

Merritt said the strained relations between the United States and Canada, as well as with France, aren’t expected to affect the delegation’s mission.

“Politics is politics and business is business,” Merritt said, adding that participants “are all really excited about going.”

Oak Leaf Systems Inc. and Hydro-Photon Inc. are two small Maine businesses participating in FuturAllia for the first time.

Headquartered in Caribou, Oak Leaf Systems Inc. is a Maine-based information technology services company that provides networking and Internet solutions to clients throughout Maine.

Founded in southern Maine by Todd Player, Oak Leaf has provided professional network integration services since 1996 to clients in a variety of commercial sectors.

“[FuturAllia] is an opportunity for small businesses like ours to talk and meet and network with businesses that we’d never otherwise have a chance to meet,” Player said Monday. “I think what we’re hoping to do is start looking at partnerships with businesses outside of the area.”

Based in Blue Hill, Hydro-Photon Inc. is the maker of the Steri-Pen, a pocket-size, battery-operated plastic device that uses ultraviolet light to sterilize water. The company has a staff of two, including owner Miles Maiden.

According to spokeswoman Nancy White, overseas travelers, outdoor recreation enthusiasts, military personnel and relief agency workers are among potential users of the device.

She said the company, founded in 1996, so far has focused on developing a domestic market. It now is looking to develop business relations outside the United States.

“We’re going for the contacts, primarily,” she said Monday. “Plus, [the initiative] was state-sponsored and fairly close.”