Ten Georgia companies have enrolled in ExportGa, a new program organized by the University of Georgia’s Business Outreach Services.

The course, which is a partnership of the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, BellSouth Guia Export and the U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC), provides export assistance services for companies that are either entering international markets for the first time or expanding their current international sales.

The participants attend seven full-day sessions in Lawrenceville at the Gwinnett Technical Institute over a seven-month period. Terry College students augment the course work for each company with 150 hours of research support.  The companies also receive individual counseling by the outreach services staff.

The companies enrolled are: American Metalcraft, an Atlanta ornamental sheetmetal fabricator; Crider, a Lincolnton manufacturer of canned poultry products; DA Technologies, a Norcross seller of new and refurbished line amplifiers for the cable television industry; Gould Plastics, a Duluth manufacturer of literature display racks; MTI Whirlpools, a Sugar Hill manufacturer of acrylic bathtubs and whirlpools;

Prime Power, a Mableton engineering firm; Princeton Medical Enterprise, a Marietta healthcare products company; PTL Equipment, a Toccoa manufacturer of elevators and escalator specialty equipment Superior International Industries, a Carrollton manufacturer of playground equipment; and Welding Services, a Norcross specialty mechanical maintenance contractor and engineer.

The cost of the program is $2,500 and is aimed at well-established companies that are successful in their markets at home, according to Charles Boyanton, who heads the Outreach Service’s International Trade Division.

Each company that is a BellSouth customer receives $1,000 from BellSouth Guia Export, a specialty business-to-business publication which is distributed annually to more than 300,000 recipients throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mr. Boyanton may be reached by calling (404) 657-1957; or send an E-mail to cobyanton@itt.state.ga.us