Brodie International, an exporter of oil metering solutions, has been named 2020 international business of the year by the World Trade Center Savannah.
The company’s positive displacement meters and piston valves are used all over the world in filling stations for oil tanker trucks, railcars and ocean vessels. They’re also used in gathering crude oil and within oil blending stations.
Brodie, which operates its 165,000-square-foot factory and calibration center on 45 acres in Statesboro, attracted the attention of the award committee for commanding a significant chunk of global market share in its category, along with its commitment to the local area.
In addition to exporting standalone products — its product video includes testimonials from customers in Thailand and the United Kingdom — the company makes customized, skid-mounted flow management systems and ships them globally.
“Brodie has become a supplier of integrated systems and sold a large oil measurement system worth $6 million to a client based in China. And as a bonus, Brodie is currently in the process of introducing lean manufacturing to their shop floor with the help of Georgia Southern University. We do recognize the significance of companies partnering with other local organizations, especially in the education sector,” Liz Ely, a spokesperson for WTCSav, told Global Atlanta in an email.
The annual honor highlights companies that improve relations between the U.S. and other countries and create quality local jobs while highlighting the importance of trade to the local economy, Ms. Ely added.
Georgia Southern President Kyle Marrero presented the award during a ceremony at the Brodie plant Oct. 28, flanked by Savannah Economic Development Authority President and CEO Trip Tollison; the World Trade Center Savannah serves as the international investment recruitment and trade promotion arm of SEDA.
“We are makers, innovators and leaders here and we take great pride in being recognized as a company that advances our region internationally. Thank you for considering us for and honoring us with this award,” Brodie President Ruppi von Gwinner said in a statement accepting the recognition.
According to the Statesboro Herald, Mr. von Gwinner warned against protectionism, arguing that “trade wars” harm companies like his by driving up tariffs, making American products more expensive and thereby less competitive in markets like China. Exports to six continents make up half of the company’s sales; without global markets, the company “would not exist,” the Germany native told the local newspaper.
Brodie was nominated by the Bulloch County Industrial Development Authority, whose CEO, Benjy Thompson, was also on hand for the presentation.
The last two years saw the World Trade Center Savannah honor foreign investors as the international business of the year. In 2019, it was Japan‘s Koyo Bearings, which has a factory in Sylvania, while Canadian interiors company DIRTT Environmental Solutions won in 2018.
Learn more at www.wtcsavannah.org.
