Maryland Smith MBAs Provide Global Export Consulting for Maryland Company This Fall

The Center for Global Business partnered with Insight Engineering (IE), a construction and infrastructure company located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, that focuses on real estate and land development on the Maryland Global Export Consulting program. This program is an opportunity that offers Maryland-based companies the chance to work with a team of the school’s MBA or undergraduate students to address challenges companies are facing in entering the international market. This fall, a team of six MBA students applied their classroom learning to a real-world consulting project and provided IE a feasibility study and go-to-market pitch deck for a mixed-use housing project in Puebla, Mexico.

IE initially charged the MBA team with providing a recommendation on a location in Latin America where IE could most feasibly build a mixed-use housing project geared towards the expat community. The team provided project updates to and sought feedback from Tony Vaz, principal and P.E. of Insight Engineering and client lead on the project, throughout the course of the project. The team also met with other experts, such as Andrew Kreinik, regional manager of the Maryland Department of Commerce (MDOC), Office of International Investment and Trade, during the semester to point out other state and federal export resources, opportunities, and possible obstacles. Nicole Coomber, associate clinical professor of management & organization, provided a consulting framework and oversaw the students’ work.

After a semester of research and analysis, the team presented three deliverables to Insight Engineering: (1) a go-to-market pitch deck to use in discussion with investors or creditors, (2) a feasibility study, and (3) a stakeholder register. Vaz and other Insight Engineering leadership indicated they intend to follow through with the teams’ recommendations and that the program has been beneficial to how they minimize risk and approach market analysis.

The Maryland Global Export Consulting program is intended to provide Maryland companies expertise in international expansion and is made possible through the partnership between the Center for Global Business and the MDOC Office of International Investment and Trade. Maryland-based companies and students interested in participating in the Maryland Global Export Consulting Program through the Center for Global Business can visit the program page or email smithglobal@umd.edu.

This event was supported in part by a Title VI grant program known as CIBE (Centers for International Business Education) administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

—    Marina Augoustidis, associate director of the Center for Global Business