International Traders group gaining altitude

Stephen Kossayian doesn't have to leave the country to work in international trade.

He doesn't even have to leave his desk in Cedar Rapids.

Kossayian is airfreight manager for Hybrid Transit Systems, working out the logistics of complex freight movements for companies that buy and refurbish parts from disassembled aircraft. A typical shipment could be the engines removed from a jetliner in England and sent to the United States to be rebuilt, or the cockpit electronics taken from a jet in the United States headed for Japan.

"I can do it all over the Internet," Kossayian said.

"The toughest part is the time difference. If I have a shipment leaving Europe, I have to have all the questions answered by 10 a.m. or it's not going to leave that day."

Kossayian is also a member of the International Traders of Iowa-Eastern Iowa Chapter. The group formed in February to fill a void after the dissolution of  the the former Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce's International Trade Bureau several years ago.

The group already has grown to 43 members - more than the original International Traders of Iowa in Des Moines - and is hoping to grow even more after seating its first elected board.

Belonging to International Traders has professional value to Kossayian, he said, because the region has other members in the aviation industry who deal with the same customers, not to mention some of the same trade issues.

That was clearly the case during a June 28 meeting of the group at the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center in Cedar Rapids. Eastern Iowa Airport Director Tim Bradshaw was the speaker.

Chapter President Dee Freeman, who deals with international trade issues in customer relations administration at Rockwell Collins, the big aerospace electronics company in Cedar Rapids, said members are from different backgrounds and have diverse international trade interest. High on the list are international marketing and payment terms, such as use of letters of credit.

Members include warehousing companies, manufacturers, bankers, lawyers, transportation companies and educators. Most are domestic companies, but others - such as PMX Industries - are internationally owned.

Their diverse backgrounds are not an issue as international trade issues cut across industries and national boundaries.

Hybrid Transit's core business is routing truck shipments of freight across the United States. Chief Administrative Officer Brian Helgen recalled that the company began to see demand from its regular clients for international work, and sought out the necessary prerequisites for doing business overseas.

Those included credit accounts, overseas agents, and an indirect air carrier license.

The freight movements are often complex and time-sensitive. They can involve bringing items together from several different warehouses around the world within a tight time window, so that an extremely valuable aircraft can be restored quickly.

In one case, Hybrid Transit was contracted to ship a huge Airbus A320 horizontal stabilizer assembly from Albuquerque, N.M., to Turkey so that a damaged aircraft could be restored.

Hybrid Transit leased one of the world's largest aircraft, a Russian Antonov 124, to airfreight the 40-foot-long, 16-foot-wide assembly halfway around the world.

Hybrid Transit more commonly arranges for container-load shipments of aircraft parts to be shipped as ocean cargo. While the company competes in the high-service segments of the freight industry, Helgen said it has to be price-competitive for the final customer.

He compares the company's services to a restaurant, saying it can offer a complete package or a la carte options.

Businesses all over the world can use Hybrid Transit's services, but Helgen said the company has special appeal for Midwestern shippers. That's because it's often easier for them to work with a company that's a known quantity and within their time zone.

"It's not a very large part of our overall business, but it is a growing part," Helgen said.

International Traders of Iowa also has flagship chapter in Des Moines and a student chapter at Grinnell College. Freeman, president of the group's statewide board, said she sees the potential for the formation of chapters at other colleges and universities.

Upcoming activities include a July 26 meet-and-greet at the Isle Casino in Bettendorf with businesses in the Quad Cities area, with Jeffrey Bernstein of Emerge Logistics to speak on logistics.

With a significant number of interested businesses in the Quad Cities, Freeman believes that area could eventually create its own chapter of International Traders.

The group's first annual statewide dinner meeting will be held Aug. 23 at Grinnell College's Joe Rosenfield Center.

Other upcoming events include a Sept. 18, buy, sell and trade event at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center focusing on opportunities with South Korea, Brazil and Germany.

Future meeting topics will include international legal issues, freight forwarding, importing and customs, trade regulations, and a larger conference in late spring 20012 on security and fraud.

Annual dues for a business membership are $150, and allow any employees of that business to participate in International Traders events.