If you are like most business owners in the United States, you are constantly working to target the best opportunities for your firm within the constraints of more and more limited resources. You’ve heard of all the buzzwords and the hot global markets—but how will they relate to you? In order to be a global leader, you need quick and affordable access to up-to-the-minute and relevant information.

Long before we learned to “google” information, international business professionals have utilized the most complete resource for locating opportunities for their firms. globalEDGE is a one-stop shop—bringing together the most up-to-date and relevant economic, political, and cultural data from thousands of sources. This information is crucial for new to export and seasoned multinational corporations alike.

Free and user-friendly access includes:

• Search options by country, industry, and trading block
• Concise, informative, at-a-glance statistics for over 200 countries
• Over 70 interactive modules on doing business in different countries
• Exporting tutorials (produced from A Basic Guide to Exporting and in conjunction with the US Department of Commerce)
• Four interactive diagnostic tools that help companies assess their readiness to export, and select international partners, distributors, and freight forwarders
• A Market Potential Index (MPI) to assist companies in evaluating emerging markets overseas
• Country insights, comparisons & rankings
• Resource directory
• A network of over 47,000 professionals
• Daily current blog topics relating to international business news

globalEDGE is developed and maintained by the International Business Center at Michigan State University. A federally-funded national resource center and Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), the Center provides support to small and medium-size firms seeking to develop overseas markets in order to strengthen international competitiveness. Programs for business include export training, market information & research, networking opportunities, and online tools. We are also proud to partner with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in the execution of its SBA State Trade Export Promotion (STEP) program.

Jade Sims is with the Michigan State University International Business Center.