Global matchmaker speaks at UAFS

Dan Hendrix is in the matchmaking business. It’s his job to bring together people who need each other but are potentially separated by international trade laws and an unawareness of each other’s existence.

Hendrix is director of the Arkansas World Trade Center, a Rogers-based organization affiliated with the University of Arkansas that is one of 345 trade centers in 100 countries. He spoke Monday (Mar. 9) to about 50 Fort Smith area business owners and students and faculty of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about economic development,” Hendrix said during his comments as part of the Distinguished Global Speaker Series sponsored by UAFS. “Primarily, we are matchmakers” connecting people and businesses around the world.

Formed in January 2007, the AWTC works to create an atmosphere that improves the chances of Arkansas businesses employing under 500 to do business overseas. The center hosted more than 18 foreign ambassadors in 2008, and has made trade visits to numerous cities in China, India, Brazil and Central and South America.

Arkansas exports were valued at $4.88 billion in 2007, and Hendrix said the center offers numerous services — making foreign connections, marketing, research, student intern support, etc. — to increase that annual export figure and to help Arkansas’ small business community tap into the export pipeline.

Hendrix — the son of former State Rep. and Speaker of the House B.G. Hendrix of Fort Smith — spent much of his time extolling the need to seek more “free and fair” trade agreements between the U.S. and countries like Colombia and Brazil. Hendrix said free and fair trade agreements do much to foster peace and stability around the world. Hendrix disagrees with those who say free trade agreements lead to outsourcing of jobs. He said the data support the fact that more U.S.  jobs have been created than lost as a result of trade agreements.

When asked after his speech about the loss of Whirlpool jobs to Mexico, Hendrix said he “certainly empathized with the perspective” of those who lost jobs at Whirlpool, but said people should resist the emotional urge to blame trade agreements.

“If we do that (cancel trade agreements), we run the risk of removing opportunities for foreign-based ownership of companies here,” Hendrix said. “It’s a matter of balance.”

Rheem, Pernod  Ricard (formerly Hiram Walker), MacSteel and Bekaert are a few of the foreign-owned companies with significant employment in the Fort Smith area.

What should college students do to prepare for a job in the global economy?

“Know a second language,” Hendrix immediately replied. He suggested Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. He also recommended studies involving logistics and supply-chain management.