Local Snowboard Firm Goes Global

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Snowboard firm Gilson Boards, known as Your American Snowboard Company, started three years ago with three people, manufacturing snowboards on a former dairy farm.

The company has since grown to 16 employees, who helped the company build and sell more than 1,000 boards this season from Gilson’s, a 5,000-square-foot facility near New Berlin. Sales have increased an average of 200 percent a year.

In 2015, the company started shipping overseas and now ships orders to:  Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea, England, France, Italy and Switzerland.  Overseas sales make up about 15 percent of the company’s business, according to the owner of the firm, Nick Gilson.

Read more:  Local firms go global

Shipping Overseas a Logistical Nightmare?

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Sometimes I have to shake my head in disbelief wondering if people are living in caves these days.  Consider the question asked by a reader to Heino Beckmann, Associate professor, Finance Department, University of St. Thomas, Opus College of Business over at the Star Tribune:

Shipping overseas appears to be a logistical nightmare for a small business. What resources are available to aid businesses that are expanding to new global markets?

Find Heino's answer here.

Meanwhile, for those coming out of a cave, there are a couple of companies that specialize in shipping globally.  (Trust me, shipping internationally is never a logistical nightmare.) You might try:

• UPS
• FedEx
• DHL
• TNT

P.S.  When I read questions like this, I can't wait for my new export book to be out!  It's scheduled for release February 2014.  I'll keep you posted.