The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has just released their latest edition of ‘Faces of Trade’, introducing Ellicott Dredges, a 135 year old manufacturer of dredging equipment from Baltimore, MD.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Faces of Trade is a longstanding and ongoing project to tell the real-life stories of the American workers and entrepreneurs whose livelihoods have been supported and improved by trade.
“We’ve been in Baltimore in the same spot since 1900, and trade is what has enabled our business to grow over the last 135 years. If we didn’t harness the power of exporting for our business, we wouldn’t exist,” said Ellicott President Peter Bowe, in the video.
“Every year, over half our sales are attributed to exporting as we sell to over a dozen countries such as Indonesia, Nigeria, Iraq, and Bangladesh, but we are always facing some challenges. We don’t want to restrict imports, and we don’t want to shut down trade opportunities for us to reach new markets and new customers around the world.
“Our message to Washington is very simple: We need to have open doors where we’re selling. Don’t be afraid to trade and look beyond our borders; instead, create strong trade deals so businesses like Ellicott Dredges can be more competitive.
“We rely on trade, and in terms of trade agreements, NAFTA has been a huge boost for us. We sell more to Mexico now than we did before NAFTA was implemented, and thanks to NAFTA, we are now more competitive in both countries, but we need more agreements. We need global opportunities to grow and prosper – the world is our market, and we depend on exports to succeed,” Bowe concluded.
One month after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed into law, a Mexican road construction firm bought two dredges from Ellicott.
Fast forward 20 years, and Ellicott continues to do more and more business in Canada and Mexico, and right now, Bowe is competing for major business deals with customers in Canada and Mexico that would elevate profits for 2017 and allow Ellicott to continue adding jobs in Maryland and Wisconsin.