GlobalTarget™ Program Mentorship

EXPORT ACCELERATOR

The GlobalTarget program was created in 2005 by the Monte Ahuja College of Business Global Business Center at Cleveland State University, the SBDC Export Assistance Network (EAN), the U.S. Commercial Service and other regional and international organizations.

There are two ways to participate in the GlobalTarget program through: 1) Company Membership in a seven-month cohort or 2) Individual Mentorship which can be renewed annually.

MENTORSHIP (Renewable)

Export mentorship is a job that few are qualified to offer. This video below explains how the GlobalTarget program, Ohio's premier export accelerator and mentorship platform, relies on input from established professionals to lend their experience to keep our community globally savvy and vibrant.

GlobalTarget is always looking for individuals who embrace the mentality and culture of an international company. They may be very active in trade shows or work with a large distribution network throughout the world – but most importantly they understand the importance of working within an international company and how it affects the bottom line: improving employee relations, salaries, and increasing competitiveness. Those that want to share their international expertise see the value in bringing that mindset.

Richard Seif, GlobalTarget mentor, since 2012, has found mentoring to be rewarding: “As a mentor it is very satisfying in helping other companies. You can utilize your experiences and your knowledge to help other companies grow and you can help them return economic value to Northeast Ohio which is another great goal to have – to keep this area very vibrant from a business standpoint. I would encourage any person to look at the mentorship program because not only is it exciting and you get great experiences but you learn so much by consulting and teaching other people different ways to export and grow internationally.”

GLOBALTARGET PROGRAM MENTOR COMPANIES

Mentors are the critical success factor that differentiate and enhance Cleveland State University’s GlobalTarget program. Our Mentors bring years of global experience from a variety of industries. Mentors have come from companies including: Bird Technologies / Codonics / CSA Group / OnBase by Hyland / Lincoln Electric / Lubrizol / Nordson / nVent / Seif Solutions Business Consulting /Step 2 / Swagelok / Vitamix / Miller Weldmaster / OmegaSea / SteelCase

HEAR FROM A GLOBALTARGET MENTOR

Since 2012, Richard (Dick) Seif has volunteered his time, expertise and connections to Ohio companies seeking to improve their global footprint through Cleveland State University's GlobalTarget program. In this interview, Richard talks about how his background as a successful Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for the Lincoln Electric Corporation has helped him help other companies succeed. He explains how through GlobalTarget he's been given the opportunity to mentor companies and encourage their international growth.

Retirement motivated Richard to become a GlobalTarget mentor as he wanted to do something worthwhile with his time. He believes it is a good way to give back and enjoys the satisfaction in helping companies. Richard says it is rewarding to use his business and lifetime experience to give companies advice gained from his 40 years of business knowledge and get them on a path to exporting success.

Richard’s biggest piece of advice: Many companies want to do international business from afar when they need to actually visit the country to understand the customs, the language and the intricacies of its specific market. Richard says it has been a lot of fun mentoring and he has found it interesting helping companies in various industries such as automotive to industrial fabrics to plastic welding.

Interested in Mentoring for Global Target? EMAIL: gbc@csuohio.edu