Since August 2020 the California Global Connect program has given almost 100 California small businesses the chance to speak directly, one-to-one, with buying authorities in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland and Belgium, Bahrain, and Spain and Portugal. The next stop on the global opportunities tour is Australia! 

 

MARKET INTELLIGENCE 

OVERVIEW

During this mission, qualified California aerospace, defense and space companies will hear from, and meet with, potential business partners that include government regulators, utility executives, and private-sector project management firms from Australia- moving most rapidly to embrace new approaches to defense, security, and aerial firefighting options.

California delegates will first meet in a group setting with key players who will explain their organizations' plans, priorities and procurement process to everyone on the mission. After the group presentations California delegates will have opportunities to meet privately one-on-one with relevant authorities to present their products and services and receive immediate feedback on next steps forward.

 

In Partnership With:

     

MARKET INTELLIGENCE 

MARKET INTELLIGENCE 

Step-by-step Session Format

The overall program is composed of five component segments that take place over the course of up to three weeks.

1- Upon registration and acceptance into the program all program participants will be provided briefing materials to assure a common foundation and up-to-date summary of current market conditions. 

2- In advance of the live interactive online event each company’s profile including product information, web links and video messaging (if provided) will be circulated to the panel of foreign presenters / participants. 

3- Group Session(s): Presentations by vetted buying authorities who have expressed interest in the products and services provided by the delegation. Each presentation culminates in Q&A opportunities for the delegates. 

4- B2B Meetings: With the information provided by each delegate, we request that our presenter(s) recommend a specific individual/office with relevant interest and management responsibility to meet with the delegates one-on-one. Depending on availability, the meetings may take place on the same day as the group discussions or may be scheduled for a later, mutually-agreed, time and date.

 

Participation Benefits

·    Access into the combined global connections of Governor Gavin Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Kallman Worldwide

·    Gather firsthand action-oriented market intelligence, and stay a step ahead of your competitors

·    Learn how and where to focus your export sales and marketing efforts

·    Be introduced to sources of ongoing advice /assistance / representation in the markets with the most potential for you

·    Receive pre-event briefing materials to lay a solid foundation and let you “hit the ground running” on game day

·    Promote your innovations and products by submitting a company description that will be shared with the content provider(s) in advance of the event

·    Experience greater personalized attention since there will be only 10-12 other companies per event, fostering an intimate experience and increased dialogue

·    Build on the discussions initiated during our introductory session with one-on-one conversations with interested buying authorities

 

Special Note: Require minimal investment to achieve maximum results: Go Biz will use funds allocated under the federal STEP program to subsidize the participation cost for qualifying Californian companies

REGISTER WITH THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In Partnership With:

     

GO-Biz

Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis was sworn in as the 50th Lieutenant Governor of California by Governor Gavin Newsom on January 7th, 2019. She is the first woman elected Lt. Governor of California. A native Californian, she visited each of the state’s 58 counties during her historic campaign.
From 2010 to 2013, Kounalakis served as President Barack Obama’s Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary. Kounalakis was the first Greek-American woman – and at age 43 one of America’s youngest – to serve as U.S. Ambassador. Her highly acclaimed memoir, “Madam Ambassador, Three Years of Diplomacy, Dinner Parties and Democracy in Budapest” (The New Press, 2015), chronicles the onset of Hungary’s democratic backsliding.
Governor Jerry Brown appointed Kounalakis to chair the California Advisory Council for International Trade and Investment in 2014. Kounalakis was a Virtual Fellow at the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR)between 2014 and 2017, specializing in international trade and immigration. She is currently a director of the Association of American Ambassadors and a National Democratic Institute (NDI) “Ambassadors Circle” advisor.
Prior to her public service, Kounalakis was president of one of California’s most respected housing development firms, AKT Development, where she worked for 18 years. She built master-planned communities and delivered quality housing to the Sacramento region’s working families – recognizing her as one of the capital region’s most prominent businesswomen. Passionate about early childhood development, Kounalakis served as a member of California’s First 5 Commission and the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism.
Eleni Kounalakis graduated from Dartmouth College in 1989 and earned her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1992. She holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the American College of Greece. She is married to Dr. Markos Kounalakis and the couple has two teenage sons, Neo and Eon.

Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis
Lieutenant Governor of California, State of California

GO-Biz

Emily Desai is California’s Trade Representative for Europe, MEA, and India. In her capacity at GO-Biz she oversees trade and commercial engagement with California’s U.S. government and foreign partners in those regions. She brings more than a decade of experience in international issues from the public and private sectors. Most recently, she worked in international affairs and trade sectors serving the U.S. Congress as a Senior Project Manager at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. She has a BS in Public Administration with honors from the University of Arizona and an MPP from U.C. Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth, economic development, and business assistance efforts. Our teams are comprised of experts that span industries, geographies, and business backgrounds.

Emily Desai
Trade and Investment Representative for Europe, MEA & India

GO-Biz

Diana joined the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) as the Special Advisor for International Affairs and Trade in October of 2015. Diana manages the export strategy of GO-Biz’s International Affairs and Trade team with Senior Advisor Kaina Pereira. Diana is also the primary manager between GO-Biz and the California Department of Food and Agriculture in overseeing the implementation of California State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) funded activities. She works closely with regional specialists at the U.S. Commercial Services, Foreign Consulates, industry trade associations and country contacts to promote California exports of goods and services, as well as encouraging the location and expansion of companies from around the world into California.
Diana formerly served as the International Special Projects Manager at the Northern California Center for International Trade Development (CITD). As the Special Projects Manager, Diana organized export/import seminars and foreign training delegations. She assisted the Director to lead over one hundred trade missions to and from California. In 2010, Diana served as the Statewide Ag Co-Coordinator to implement the Memorandum of Agreement the CITD entered with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Diana Dominguez is a resourceful leader with more than eight years of experience in coordination of international market development activities, program implementation, and preparation of federal and state government grant proposals. Diana earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with an emphasis in international relations from the University of California, Davis.
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth, economic development, and business assistance efforts. Our teams are comprised of experts that span industries, geographies, and business backgrounds.

Diana Dominguez
Special Advisor for International Affairs and Trade

Kallman Worldwide, Inc.

Thomas J. Kallman is the President and CEO of Kallman Worldwide, Inc. an international marketing and exhibition management firm headquartered in Waldwick, New Jersey, with affiliate offices in Washington, DC; Charleston, SC; Dallas and Houston, TX; Santiago, Chile; London, UK and Tokyo, Japan. In 1989 Tom joined the predecessor company, Kallman Associates, founded ifby his father Jerry Kallman Sr. in 1963, and created the Aerospace Division. Under his direction, the company succeeded in organizing the largest-ever U.S. Pavilions at the Paris Air Show in successive events beginning in 1997 through 2019. Similar marks were set at the Farnborough Air Show from 1998 through 2018, and at other aerospace industry events spanning the globe. Over the last three decades, Tom has applied the same successful formula for portfolio growth to other industry sectors, recruiting and assisting U.S. companies in healthcare, environmental, mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, water, maritime & security, agricultural equipment and food. Kallman Worldwide presently supports nearly 1,500 companies each year in destinations around the world, often partnering with the U.S. Department of Commerce and other federal and state government agencies. Kallman Worldwide’s work with the aerospace industry grew out of Tom Kallman’s love of flying nurtured during four years at the U.S. Air Force Academy. A graduate of the Class of 1981, he went on to tally over 1500 flying hours in the T-33 and nearly 1000 hours as an F-15 instructor pilot over his nine-year tour of duty.
Tom is married with four children and four grandchildren. He is active in the International Association of Exhibition and Events, the Society of Independent Show Organizers and The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI).
For more than 55 years, Kallman Worldwide has made it our business to successfully connect U.S. exporters with international buyers through international trade shows, supplemented by briefings held either prior to the show via webinar, or during the show, via live in-person events mounted in our Forum facilities. The COVID pandemic has created significant challenges for industry SME’s to connect with international decision-makers and influencers, and conversely, for these decision-makers to connect with potential new suppliers. Given the cancellation and postponement of so many international trade events, Kallman Worldwide, has focused more attention on creating ongoing opportunities for U.S. industry to engage with selected agencies and individuals in proven overseas markets under the banner “Kallman Connects”. Kallman Connects Digital Trade Forums and Digital Trade Missions give US companies the opportunity to interact with key industry contacts in a public setting and then facilitate that interaction into private one-on-one conversations between buyers and sellers. These digital trade forums and missions aim to connect U.S. exporters with actual buying entities, and then ensure those conversations initiated during these events create and nourish relationships that lead directly to business success for both sides.

Tom Kallman
President & CEO

Meet Your Team

Carolyn Carniaux Project Manager

Carolyn Carniaux

Project Manager

  

I have the pleasure to work with a team of dedicated experts who represent both internal and external stakeholders. It is my job to ensure that the ball is moving forward to the collective goal of an overall successful show for U.S. International Pavilion exhibitors. In planning, we usually hit both bumps and smooth patches along the way – much like the actual roads we travel in the diverse and exciting destinations we work in across the globe!

Jamaela Malhotra

Project Coordinator

JamaelaM@kallman.com +1 (201) 251-2600 x188

Peter McKenna

Peter McKenna

Vice President, Business Development

  

I’ve been planning and implementing global events for more than 25 years. Drawing from public sector experience — including a stint in the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance — and private sector work at virtually every level of event organization, I focus on identifying show-starved industries and building the infrastructure to launch and sustain major events that feed a growing need.