The “Trade Heroes” series highlights Edmonton Region companies who have ‘exportitude’ — the mindset and commitment to think globally when it comes to their business.
Today we are featuring Grengine, a battery energy storage manufacturer and is an alumnus of the Trade Accelerator Program (TAP). TAP is a 4-day hands-on program designed to accelerate the strategic development of businesses and to better them for expansion into international markets. The TAP Alberta Cohorts of TAP Canada was created by the Toronto Region Board of Trade, and it is supported by the Mobilizing SMEs to Export initiative to assist in delivering Canada’s Export Diversification Strategy. The program is supported by national partners including Calgary Economic Development, the TAP Alberts stewards in partnership with Edmonton Global.
Export journey
Connie, the founder of Grengine, confesses their export journey has seen challenges. At the beginning of their export venture, Grengine lacked in-depth knowledge of tariffs, duties, HS codes, and shipping of dangerous goods. “We were doing everything from scratch,” Connie says.
Without this expert knowledge, Grengine’s sales team spent a lot of time researching locations where they could successfully market their product – all areas where TAP helps. Fortunately, their involvement in Edmonton’s tech ecosystem led them to discover TAP and other support programs.
The Trade Accelerator Program (TAP)
Grengine joined one of the first Edmonton Region cohorts for TAP. The introduction to TAP proved crucial for Grengine as it familiarized them with the ecosystem and allowed them to learn from various industries. Moreover, TAP arranged for a logistics company to provide expert knowledge on the process involved in shipping dangerous goods, which was particularly helpful for Grengine’s industry. TAP also went above and beyond by providing feedback on Grengine’s proposal, and by providing them with free market research.
Connie emphasizes the pivotal role of TAP in their success as exporters. Without this program, reaching their level of success with exporting would have taken considerably longer. “It’s a wonderful program to take, especially if you haven’t already begun to export. It’s a great introduction into a number of different supports that are free to use.” She praises the exceptional enthusiasm and ongoing support from the program’s organizers, who still remain supporters of Grengine nearly 5 years later.
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