The Atlanta Metro Export Challenge announced the competition’s three winning companies, with winners receiving a total of $35,000 in grant rewards: Triatek Holdings, Dustex LLC and IronCAD, receiving $20,000, $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.

Triatek's products control the directional flow of air in critical room environments such as hospitals, laboratories and operating rooms. Triatek’s systems respond with the speed necessary in these critical environments. There are less than a handful of companies worldwide focused on this industry, and international opportunities continue to grow. With the $20,000 in grants, Triatek plans to build their business development and grow face-to-face contact with customers around the globe, with the goal of educating potential clients on the benefits of their systems.

“The grant is fantastic, but the real value in this process has come from interacting with various agencies and individuals whose purpose is to support exporters,” said Jim Hall, CEO of Triatek. “I encourage others who are interested in growing their export operations to reach out – you don’t have to make the decision alone. There is a fantastic wealth of support options available.”

The Atlanta MEC is a grant program targeting local companies with innovative export strategies. The top five participating companies pitched their export plans in front of a panel of judges, Shark Tank-style, during the event. The companies included: Dustex LLC, GF Health Products, Inc., IronCAD, Triatek Holdings and Winton Machine Company.

Last year, 28 companies from metro Atlanta were selected as semi-finalists, and each received a reimbursement grant of up to $5,000 to apply toward expenses related to building export capacity and activities. These companies were then narrowed down to the five organizations that participated on Pitch Day.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. renewed their commitment to the program last year with a $100,000 grant to support the Atlanta MEC. This year they were joined by UPS, contributing an additional $25,000, and Partnership Gwinnett contributing $5,000.

“Companies with global perspectives are more likely to create new jobs. They are stronger, more resilient and tend to be more innovative as they respond to global market demand,” said David Balos, head of Chase Middle Market Banking in Georgia. “The Pitch Day event is another opportunity to continue the discussion on why to go global, and we are proud to support this initiative here in Atlanta.”

Atlanta MEC and the Atlanta Metro Export Plan seek to spur the development of proactive international business sales plans and drive local companies to act on them. As the world’s largest package delivery company, UPS works with businesses of all sizes to enable global growth. With over 40 years of international experience, UPS uses this expertise to assist local small businesses with international solutions like brokerage services, paperless invoice, insurance services with UPS Capital and competitive pricing through UPS Connect.

The Atlanta MEC and Atlanta Metro Export Plan are part of the larger Global Cities Initiative, a joint project between the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase to build awareness of the importance of international markets. Atlanta is one of the select cities taking part in the initiative. Global trade matters – metro Atlanta companies exported $26.7 billion worth of products and services in 2017, which supported 182,190 jobs in the region.