Eu centers proposal submission guidelines

January 2012/2013/2014 - Conference 1:
Texas EU SUMMIT, 1, 2, & 3: EU Center of Excellence “Connecting Central Texas Businesses to the European Markets”
Texas is the second largest exporting state to the EU. Total Texas export to the EU in 2010 exceeded $26.5 billion. The UK, Germany, and France are the leading Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) sources in Texas. The existing trade relationship between Texas/US and the EU will be highlighted for new-to-export and established firms as well as exposing small businesses to the growing trade opportunities in emerging markets within the EU.
The Texas EU Summit will include plenary sessions led by international trade policy experts and political and business leaders, as well as EU chambers of commerce, which will set the stage for the focused breakout sessions. The focused breakout sessions will provide attendees with the hands-on information that they will need in order to successfully do business with the EU. This will include much information on international marketing and sales, understanding the legal requirements and risks, how to ship products into foreign markets, payment methods and export financing alternatives. There will also be a session focused on investment opportunities and incentives.
Target Audience:

We project that 150 to 200 small businesses, economic development entities, and government officials from throughout Texas and the EU will attend each summit.

Partnering Organizations will include: 

US Department of Commerce

Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce

Small Business Development Center, The State of Texas

International Business Institute, Austin Community College

German American Chamber of Commerce

French American Chamber of Commerce

Italy American Chamber of Commerce

German Consulate Office in Texas

Italian Consulate office in Texas

French Consulate Office in Texas

Hungarian  Consulate/Swedish  American Chamber of Commerce

Fulfillment of Objectives for the Texas Summits:
Information, Dissemination, and Measurable Criteria Aspect:

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  We will involve the local media in these business summits.
  
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  The Center will use the contacts with local and State business partners that the McCombs School of Business has developed in order to attract a wide audience for these summits.
  
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  All participants will be asked to fill out a satisfaction survey and offer suggestions on how the summits could be more useful for their needs. All conferences will be evaluated through continuous feedback and adaptation and monitored by CES’s Outreach Coordinator in consultation with UT’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), which will oversee our measurement and evaluation.
  

Objective 2:

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  These summits will “promote greater understanding of the EU and EU-US relations among regional outreach constituencies,” which in this case is the business community.
  
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  These summits will provide a venue for trade representatives of the various EU Member States to make the case for increased investment in Europe by the Texas business community.
  

Objective 5:

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  The summits will continue a long tradition of the McCombs School of Business working closely with the Texas business community in developing strategies for investment.
  
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  The summits will raise the profile of the Center in the business community, leading to new sources of funding.
  

All Business workshops will have a consistent and robust participation by the UT’s academic community, especially those from the McCombs School of Business and the UT School of Law.