PPP Looking To Expand in a Shrinking World
Meeting with Road Department - Curitiba, Brazil
JACKSONVILLE, FL. -- Doing business in a shrinking world requires boldness in expanding beyond political boundaries, however it is a risk well worth taking. That was the conclusion of Greg Driskell, President and Founder of Jacksonville-based Professional Pavement Products (PPP), after an exploratory trip to Brazil in October 2011 where he stepped out of his comfort zone to investigate the opportunities that our shrinking world has to offer.
“International business has always been
an area of interest to us”
“International business has always been an area of interest to us," said Driskell, whose 16-year-old company provides over 700 pavement and roadway safety products through six outlets in the southeast and Texas.
"With the realignment of the world's economies, the accessibility to worldwide customers and manufacturers electronically, and the world wide focus on roadway safety and improvements in particular, PPP has been motivated to look at international business as a significant piece of our expansion plans for 2012 and well beyond”.
Driskell visited Brazil in late October 2011 as part of Enterprise Florida's Brazilian Trade Mission. Enterprise Florida is the official economic development organization of the State of Florida and primary organizer of the more than 200 Florida business and political leaders that visited the world's 7th largest economy. Among those participating were Florida's Governor, Rick Scott, and Jacksonville's Mayor, Alvin Brown. The Mission was focused on building further business relationships between Florida and its most valued export market.
In addition to promoting his own company, Professional Pavement Products, Driskell embraced the opportunity to promote and support two of his other passions, entrepreneurship and roadway safety, on an international level.
The Mission's itinerary included meetings with Brazilian political officials and business principals, as well as face time with Florida's Governor and Jacksonville's Mayor.
“I was quite surprised by the intimate access that we had to both U.S. and Brazilian officials,” stated Driskell. “My time with the governor was brief, but enlightening. I walked away from our meeting thinking [Scott] really is dedicated to his campaign promise of putting Florida back to work.”
Jacksonville and Curitiba Mayoral Delegation meeting
When asked about the mayor Driskell conceded some ambivalence, “Well it is no secret to those who know me, that we differ in general mindset, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much our concerns overlap. I had the opportunity to spend a considerable amount of time with the mayor, and I feel he will be good for Jacksonville businesses. I think he understands that a better business economy may not solve all our problems, but it will certainly help us afford to undertake measures that will.”
Driskell's itinerary included joining a five-person delegation to Jacksonville's sister city of Curitiba, Brazil. This “small” Brazilian city of only two million people is known as a model city. “It was obvious to me that this was an innovative, forward thinking city,” said Driskell, ”a perfect incubator for entrepreneurship!”
“It was obvious to me that this was an
innovative, forward thinking city”
The visit to Curitiba was kicked off with a Business Roundtable event that brought an affluent group of about 50 business and political leaders together to share their ideals and visions.
“My focus at the Roundtable was on fostering entrepreneurship. I had the opportunity to speak and convey my conviction that it will be the entrepreneurs of places like Jacksonville and Curitiba that will create entirely new economies. From the applause, I would say they were on board with that!” stated Driskell.
Thanks to the assistance of Joshua Rodriggs, President of Jacksonville-based consulting firm SIS4Biz, Driskell went on to meet with several prominent Brazilian pavement and roadway industry suppliers, manufacturers, and contractors outside of the Enterprise Florida Mission.
One of those visits was with a large Brazilian concessionary, EcoVia, which is under contract to build, maintain, and collect tolls on hundreds of miles of public highways. “The technology used by these guys was impressive, but their desire for safe reliable products was even greater,” noted Driskell.
EcoRoVias Traffic Control Center - from left: Mr. Moriera, Greg Driskell
Beyond the fact that this was his first visit to Brazil and he had the privilege of meeting the Governor and Jacksonville's Mayor, Driskell said the real highlight was meeting with the Curitiba public works directors.
“They are just like us. They want to be efficient and serve their community with safe roadways for pedestrians and motorists alike. I spent a lot of time not only with the engineers and directors but also on site with the hands-on workers pushing the asphalt,” Driskell says. “There is notably a lot of room for work zone safety improvement – cars were speeding down asphalt lanes before roadway workers could even finish getting them rolled!”
Driskell's last meeting was arranged through the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) Member to Member Exchange. The meeting was with the President of one of Brazil's largest roadway contractors and provided invaluable insight and information.
“I would not have gotten the time of day from him if it were not for the EO connection. I take advantage of the Member to Member Exchange frequently and am never stranger in any town or country I visit because of it,” said Driskell of this valuable Entrepreneurs' Organization networking service.
Driskell's takeaways from this workshop in international expansion? The Portuguese language barrier is real. Brazilians are friendly and very relationship oriented. Brazilian tariffs and business taxes are high. The city of Sao Paulo is huge with over 22 million people. And lastly, don't drink the water – a warning best heeded, said Driskell, after ignoring it himself.
About Professional Pavement Products (PPP)
Since 1996, PPP has been a leading provider in quality pavement maintenance and construction products for the improvement of safety and effectiveness of our roadways and parking areas. The organization provides over 700 products through six outlets in the Southeast and Texas as well as online. To learn more, please visit the About Us section of pppcatalog.com.
To learn more about Enterprise Florida, please visit www.eflorida.com.
To learn more about SIS4Biz, please visit www.sis4biz.com.
To learn more about Entrepreneurs' Organization, please visit www.eonetworking.com.
