Indy Chamber Announces ‘GoGlobal’ Grants: iRecord, M&M Competitive Engines, Hodei Technology & Helmer Scientific Earn Funding for Export Activities

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) June 12, 2017 - The Indy Chamber today announced four companies have earned its latest round of GoGlobal Export Acceleration Grants:iRecord, M&M Competition Engines (MMCE), Hodei Technology – all headquartered in Indianapolis – and Noblesville-based Helmer Scientific were awarded the grants to lessen business and marketing costs as they pursue new customers in international markets.  

These companies will be recognized on Wednesday, June 14th at the Indy Chamber’s Global Indy Breakfast. In addition, this public event will provide an opportunity to learn about exporting successes and challenges tech companies have encountered along their international journey through a panel featuring Don Inmon from popular local tech startup pi lab (creators of Edwin the Duck), andCameron Weeks from Sharpen, a local international software company.  

Funded by JPMorgan Chase, GoGlobal grants target mid-market companies with matching funds up to $5,000 to support export growth activities.  Launched in late 2015, it was one of the first initiatives of the Metro Indy Global Trade and Investment Plan, a strategy to increase regional exports and foreign direct investment created by the Indy Chamber in partnership with the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase.  

Al Smith, Chairman of JPMorgan Chase Indiana, has been a key partner in the Indy Chamber’s global efforts. “Our partnership with the Indy Chamber and Brookings has led to a realistic blueprint for increasing exports and attracting foreign investment, starting with more than a thousand local companies that have been identified as potential exporters,” Smith shared. “GoGlobal grants are part of our push to help these deserving firms go from middle-market to world market – and blaze a trail for others to follow.” 

“Indianapolis is one of the top 25 major metros in both exports and foreign investment, but much of this success relies on our largest employers,” said Maureen Krauss, the Indy Chamber’s Chief Economic Development Officer.  “Indy’s mid-sized companies have untapped export potential; GoGlobal grants are a way to reduce barriers to the global market, and create success stories to encourage more firms to look abroad for business growth.” 

Krauss noted that the four latest winners are all part of the region’s booming ‘advanced industry’ sector, defined by Brookings as most innovative, cutting-edge areas of manufacturing, the life sciences, technology and energy that account for the majority of all exports nationally.   

MMCE engineers high-performance engines for motorsports, where Indianapolis is among the world’s top 3 industry hubs. iRecord, distributed by Word Systems Inc., is pioneering voice and text data technologies for sensitive testimony and legal information, while Hodei Technology has developed secure, real-time audiovisual tools that allow medical teams to collaborate on patient care – even if they’re hundreds of miles away from one another.  Helmer Scientific is both a healthcare and high-tech manufacturing firm, producing sophisticated temperature-controlled storage equipment for labs, pharmacies, blood banks and other facilities.   

“Indy’s share of advanced industry exports are more than 20% higher than the average large region,” Krauss noted.  “That’s important, because these are higher-value goods and services, and the companies involved pay higher wages, too.  But to keep our high-tech economy growing, we have to be even more competitive globally – most customers and capital are outside the borders of the U.S.”   

Company executives expressed their eagerness to expand their international reach, detailing specific plans to capitalize on new export possibilities:   

M&M Competition Engines
M&M Competition Engines will explore international opportunities without traveling far from its home base, taking advantage of the city’s position as the ‘Racing Capital of the World’ by exhibiting at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) tradeshow in Indianapolis this fall.    

PRI attracts attendees and exhibitors across the motorsports industry from more than 70 countries, giving M&M a unique opportunity to strengthen its current export relationships (Australia and New Zealand) and look further abroad; the company will use its GoGlobal grant to offset exhibition costs and research new markets. 

"It is wonderful to see the Indy Chamber reaching out to small businesses and enabling them opportunities that would otherwise not be there.  Being awarded the GoGlobal Export Acceleration Grant has enabled our small Indianapolis based company to expand our international customer acquisition budget and allow for increased attention to the global markets.  Broadening our international market exposure at the 2017 Performance Racing Industry show will enable us to expand on a global level and further grow existing international relationships." – Scott Patton, President

iRecord
iRecord, distributed by Word Systems Inc., is leveraging its GoGlobal grant to access expertise and technical assistance through the Export Indiana Fellowship program. An ISBDC Export Advisor will lead a team of Purdue graduate students helping iRecord research technical specifications, sales potential and go-to-market strategies to sell its product to law enforcement and other target customer groups in key countries.    

“iRecord is designed to be easily adapted and customized to the most rigid, secure and demanding video encoding and management systems in the world. Currently we are busy working on the next generation of the secure government cloud with Microsoft Corporation and some of the brightest cloud architects. With the help of the GoGlobal Award, we are exploring the next stage of expansion, which includes serving other countries of the globe outside of North America.” – Richard Barretto, President/CEO 

Hodei Technology, LLC 
Hodei will use its GoGlobal grant to continue and expand its promising forays into Canada with its secure, remote communications solutions for the medical market; Hodei will build capacity for more aggressive outreach and marketing efforts to public health agencies and providers, as well as refining a distribution strategy.  The company will also investigate the potential of Australia as a longer-term opportunity.    

“We are truly appreciative of the Chamber and Department of Commerce’s support and assistance in helping us in our efforts to open up the Canadian marketplace to our products and services.  Their involvement has enabled us to move forward in an expeditious manner that has benefited both Hodei Tech and our prospective Canadian clients.”–Guy Mascaro, CEO 

Helmer Scientific, Inc
Exports already account for roughly one of every $5 in sales at Helmer Scientific, a manufacturer of precision lab equipment and temperature-controlled storage for healthcare and life science applications.  The Noblesville-based company sees unrealized potential to strengthen its distribution channels and recruit new customers in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and will use its GoGlobal grant to participate in the high-profile MEDICA medical conference in Germany in late 2017.   

“We are very excited to be awarded the GoGlobal Export Acceleration Grant,” stated Richard Forero, Director of International Sales.  “We currently sell our specialized laboratory and pharmacy products to over 125 different countries across the globe.  Participation at the MEDICA conference provides our company a critical opportunity to further develop and grow our partnership with our international dealers.”