US-Mexico Business Opportunities
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Indira Jeffrey, EKATAR USA
Indira Jeffrey is a partner and business development consultant with EKATAR All In One Marketing, a 360° marketing company headquartered in Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico. A banking and finance professional and passionate entrepreneur, Indira’s 22-year business and academic career has spanned the US, Mexico, Latin America and Europe. She has launched two successful start-ups focused on Economic Development that serve corporate, non-profit, start-up, SBO, and entrepreneurial clients across a spectrum of industries such as education, food & beverage, and aerospace.
Founder of iGlobal Business Consulting and partner with EKATAR USA, Indira is also the Adjunct Director for the Global Chamber Guanajuato Chapter, in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Previously she spent 16 years in banking and finance with Fortune 500 companies (Charles Schwab, JP Morgan Chase, and HSBC Mexico), where she held several roles ensuring compliance with department policies, procedures, objectives and strategies, as well as adherence to applicable State Federal and US Regulations including OFAC, FDIC, AML and the Bank Secrecy Act.
In August 2017, Indira participated in the Arizona-Mexico trade mission whose goal was to create bridges not walls between the state of Arizona and Mexico. The group of 70 people, including 35 Arizona government representatives and 35 business owners, met with Mexico City and the state of Guanajuato key representatives, and Secretary of International Relations, among others. On April 2018 Indira Jeffrey organized the first binational International Trade Masters Series event in Mesa, AZ. The goal of this event was to present to the public the different areas of the international trade, and to promote the commerce relations between Mexico and USA.
Indira is an active member of the Global Chamber, Phoenix Minority Business Development Agency, Thunderbird Alumni Association, and Toastmasters. She holds a Global MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management & Tecnologico de Monterrey, Bachelor’s Degree in International Business (University of Guanajuato), Certificate in Business Affairs (Group Sup in France), and an Arizona State University Small Business Leadership certificate. She speaks English, Spanish, and French.
Connect with Indira Jeffrey on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, and follow EKATAR All In One Marketing on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Gabriela Castro, Trade in Motion
Gabriela Castro is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Trade in Motion, a business development consulting firm that specializes in assisting and supporting small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) to enter or expand into the Mexican, American and Canadian markets. Incorporated in Arizona, the firm offers integrated services ranging from initial market research through personalized meeting assistance. Some areas of expertise managed are international business development, business support, business contacts, personal business assistance, and specialized outsourcing of technical services.
Trade in Motion prepares and trains the companies which are not market ready to do business in Mexico, the United States and Canada; drafting business plans and creating a market entry strategy for them. Trade in Motion identifies opportunities for companies and their relevant sectors and supports companies who would like to open shop in North American countries utilizing TIM’s different partners who are experts in their fields, including a law firm, accountants, technicians, etc. The sectors that Trade in Motion manages in the North American market are mining, advanced manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and clean technologies. The sector in which they have the most expertise and experience is the mining sector.
Gabriela Castro has extensive experience in business administration, commercial affairs, foreign and international trade, research and analysis, and market development, focused on client service. She has fifteen years of experience developing new business ventures and cultivating relationships with clients and contacts in the private sector and Federal and State governments. During her tenure at the Embassy of Canada to Mexico, Gabriela worked in various sectors such as mining, automotive, infrastructure, manufacturing, construction, energy, oil and gas, information and communications technology, and education. She supported Canadian companies to enter the Mexican market, providing services such as market intelligence and profiling, key contacts as well as market potential assessment.
Fluent in Spanish, English, and French, Gabriela holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management and Administration from Hautes Études Commerciales/Montréal University in Canada.
Connect with Gabriela Castro on LinkedIn and Twitter, and follow Trade in Motion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Eduardo González, 258 Consulting
Eduardo González is President at 258 Consulting, a Phoenix-based firm that helps companies on both sides of the US-Mexico border to find solutions for their sourcing, manufacturing, and sales expansion goals. 258 Consulting takes its name from the 258 stone monuments or obelisks that were placed in the mid-1800s to mark the border between Mexico and the US. These monuments lined the boundary from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. Before there were walls and fences, the only thing marking the border were these stone monuments. 258 Consulting believes that walls and fences are not the solution while recognizing that the two countries are business partners and that together they can continue being a great force that can strive in the ever more competing international markets.
258 Consulting provides manufacturing in Mexico and supply chain development solutions for foreign companies seeking to establish a manufacturing presence in Mexico. Their target client base includes:
- US or foreign Manufacturing companies
- US or foreign companies that do not necessary manufacture themselves but outsource their products from Contract Manufacturers Partners (CMP)
- Service providers in the US looking to source software development, call centers, or other services from Mexico
- Established US companies that currently manufacture or have their supply chain in China, outside the US, or in the US
- Manufacturing companies looking to move or expand where we can provide site selection services
- Mexican companies looking to explore the US market for their products or services
Eduardo has an extensive experience of more than 20 years in business development and supply chain support, assisting Mexican companies with their international sales and helping foreign companies to identify new suppliers, assisting in contract negotiations with manufacturers and finding solutions for their supply chain needs. He has helped also foreign companies establish manufacturing operations in Mexico and find suppliers to source their manufacturing needs or services, in the advanced manufacturing sector (aerospace, automotive, medical device), as well as in the other industries, such as: food processing, fresh food and meat, retail sector, tourism and IT, among others.
Eduardo served as Deputy Trade Commissioner of ProMéxico in Phoenix, AZ from September 2015 to March 2019. ProMéxico was Mexico’s agency responsible for coordinating strategies aimed at strengthening Mexico’s participation in the international economy, supporting exporting firms from Mexico and coordinating activities aimed at attracting foreign investment. (The agency and all of its international offices were closed at the end of 2018, effective March 2019).
Additionally, he has vast experience in international markets. Before his appointment at the ProMéxico office in Arizona, Eduardo served as State Director for ProMéxico in the Mexican state of Baja California and had several responsibilities while working for Mexican Export Development Bank (Bancomext) in The Netherlands and in Mexico.
Connect with Eduardo González on LinkedIn and Twitter, and follow 258 Consulting on LinkedIn.
Get tickets for the Global to Local Innovation Summit: Sustaining Growth on December 10, 2019 in Scottsdale, AZ
