NASBITE CLE conference recap
2025 NASBITE Annual Conference in Cleveland April 11, 2025
International Business Development Educational Leader expanding global opportunities for organizations, companies, and students.
A year ago this month I announced that the biggest event in trade education was coming to Cleveland in April of 2025. That event was the 38th annual conference for NASBITE International, the national nonprofit organization whose mission is to be the leader in international business education standards and practices. Looking back I am happy to report that the event lived up to the hype on multiple levels. For starters, it drew a ten-year high in attendance. Despite all the uncertainty swirling about us, it turns out more people than usual decided it was important to gather and take the pulse of just how everyone else in the world of global trade was handling things.
Michael Weidokal needs a real-time ticker to keep up with tariff updates in his morning keynote.
Since 2012 I've been to ten of these conferences. This one was special. It started with a palpable energy like no other in recent memory. After all, its opening day happened to coincide with the unveiling of the Trump Administration's "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariff schedule. Our lead keynote speaker, Michael Weidokal, founder of ISA International, was tasked with the unenviable job of giving his predictions for the near and long term economic outlook on global trade. In a surreal moment, the tariff rates kept rising in a dramatic escalating fashion between the US and Chinese administrations in real time during his keynote presentations causing audible gasps in the audience. Michael joked that maybe he needed to incorporate one of those sliding electronic news tickers (called chyrons) at the bottom of his slide deck these days.
And while his joke broke the tangible nervousness that rippled throughout the audience of 200 attendees it underscored an odd kind of relief. At least, that's how I felt. For in that moment, the sheer uncertainty of what all this would mean, the cascading effects that would undoubtedly cause shocks to supply chains, to buyers, exporters, and to really anyone who has a role tied to global trade. In that moment, to be surrounded by so many knowledgeable, connected individuals who had diverse insights to what they were seeing, hearing, and dealt with first hand was a demonstration of the power when smart and experienced people gather during a moment of unprecedented uncertainty.
Attendees socialize at the opening reception, held at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
And, to make things better, we were able to gather and wash away our anxiety with a nice meal and a beer or two later that day. What keeps me engaged with this dynamic collection of leaders, educators, and business professionals in global trade is the incredible sense of a collective purpose. For those of us who have made global business our careers we recognize the indispensable power of connections. After all, trade is so all-encompassing. The trouble with international business as a concept is that in all reality, it's every other kind of business subtopic (accounting, sales, management, logistics, supply chain, etc.) but with the added twist of how that subject applies across two or more countries. Now multiply that to the infinite combination of country to country, county to region, country to trade block and add the nonstop churn of how policies, politics, laws, and sentiments change and the prospect of mastering this domain seems impossible. I suppose it's for that reason that anyone who embraces that chaos seeks strength in numbers. NASBITE offers such an umbrella. Our ranks include folks from across a wide array of industries, universities, government agencies, and - increasingly and most encouragingly- among young professionals.
Members of the NASBITE Distinguished Fellows and I explore fine Lebanese food at Taza with the student team from UMass Lowell.
A sidebar event to the conference for the past several years has been a student case competition which has grown from its humble roots 10+ years ago and a handful of schools. Fast forward to this year when the competition included 21 teams from across the USA as well as from Canada, Mexico, and Thailand. Finalists come to the conference and pitch live to the case company, which this year was SaveTheGirls Touch Screen Purses. Congrats to the University of Richmond team for taking home the $1k first place undergrad prize!
Preconference Programs added Professional Development Opportunities
Among the multiple excellent breakout sessions presented at the conference there are pre-conference training opportunities for those who want to immerse themselves in topics that require longer exposure. This year the conference offered a two-day "boot camp" training for individuals who wanted to either sit for the CGBP certification exam or those just looking to sharpen their global business acumen. The other training offered was a one day deep dive workshop presented by Robert P. (Bob) Imbriani on export controls and compliance.
Dr. Emad Estemalik, MD Cleveland Clinic neurologist and head of their global development
Other highlights from this year's program included Ethel Torres' moving story of resilience and success in the face of regulatory pressures in starting and growing National Drug Source, Inc. whose business is 100% reliant on export sales and was a previous National Small Business Exporter Summit honoree. In a nod to the prevalence and success of healthcare in Cleveland, the final keynote speaker came from the Cleveland Clinic where Emad Estemalik MD,MBA shared the compelling and fascinating journey the Clinic has embarked upon to open facilities in Canada, England, Abu Dhabi and more.
NASBITE's officers and past presidents are joined by the US Commercial Service team
A final high point of the conference came in the form of NASBITE itself being honored by our partners at the US Department of Commerce. A longtime partnership between NASBITE and our nation's trade promotion agency was recognized with Todd Hiser, CPCC, MBA presenting NASBITE with a Certificate of Appreciation, a high honor that recognizes NASBITE's many years of contributing to the national efforts of increasing the export sales for companies across the USA.
In all, this year's annual conference was a highly memorable gathering, one punctuated by a heightened importance to grow and share invaluable techniques of how international trade can help grow our mutual economies, raising the quality of life for us all.
Interested to learn more? Come be part of the discussion at our fall National Small Business Exporter Summit and stay tuned for an announcement regarding our 2026 conference.