It isn’t a stretch to imagine that fate led Richard Tremblay to his career in international trade. As a student at the University of Windsor, Richard would find himself walking past several Customs Brokers offices to get to his parking space near the Ambassador Bridge, which joins Canada to the USA.

This daily routine piqued his curiosity of the  Customs Broker profession, and he decided to take a chance and apply for a position when he saw a hiring sign. Richard explains,

“One day I stepped into the biggest building and applied for a job as a Customs Broker, which I got. That was the beginning of a long career in international trade.”

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of major change in international trade

In 1989, which was to prove a momentous year in the history of Germany, Richard had set up an office in Dusseldorf to coordinate between his customer and vendors in Eastern Europe, to ensure timely delivery of orders into the USA and Canada. The fall of the Wall, in November 1989, directly impacted his work, and set in motion a series of events that now form some of his favorite career stories.

With increasing numbers of East Germans migrating to the west, it resulted in new supply chain challenges and the need to bridge gaps in skills and learning.

“As the world changed and the wall came down and the European Economic Community evolved, a new customer needed our service offering and we became an integral part of their strategy.”

The company had operations in 18 countries to help deal with restrictions on border crossings and with adherence to specific government regulations. The lifting of all barriers opened the door to greater trade opportunities, necessitating the setting up of an efficient supply chain process.

Richard’s proudest accomplishment includes the elaborate and onerous task of redesigning their distribution and transport network.

“This analysis and rollout took 3 years to fully execute but it made them a competitive provider of consumer products in Europe.”

A valuable piece of career advice

“My advice would be to learn as many languages as you can. It can expand your career in areas of the world.”

Other than English, Richard can speak some French and even has a smattering of German from his time in Germany.

Formalizing credentials by applying for the CITP®|FIBP® designation

After spending many years in the international supply chain business, which saw him visit and work in several countries, Richard decided that it was time for him to formalize his professional credentials.

On being asked why he chose the CITP (Certified International Trade Professional) designation:

“Once I started teaching, I learned about the CITP and wanted a designation that was global. I wanted the CITP because it was international rather than regional.”

Why Richard chose teaching as a career

At a conference, Richard’s friend suggested he try out a part time teaching role. Richard started with one class a week and absolutely loved it making him realize that this was something he would certainly like to do more of.

“As I’m teaching the courses I’m using my real-world experiences that developed my career in international trade,and my students really like relating what they are learning with real life challenges.”

The CITP designation adds a special significance to his current role as professor where he teaches Supply Chain courses designed by FITT (Forum for International Trade Training) at Conestoga College in Kitchener, ON and part time at Mohawk College, Hamilton.

While the schools have been temporarily closed over the past few weeks, Richard has pivoted to teaching his students remotely through online classes, and kept them engaged in professional development by encouraging them to attend virtual learning events such as FITT’s #TradeElite Twitter chats.

With solid industry backed credentials, a vast repertoire of real-world examples and a sound knowledge of the subject matter, he makes the learning experience an enriching one for his students.

“I am very proud to add CITP to my credentials on my resume, signature, and business cards.”

Equipped with an elite designation and a rich professional experience, Richard is a certified expert in his field, having to his credit an impressive success story that shows no signs of fading.

The post CITP Spotlight: Richard Tremblay – Professor, Global Supply Chain appeared first on Trade Ready.

FITT Student of the Year is from the Vancouver Career College

Our FITT Student of the Year for 2013—the student who scored the highest GPA of all students who graduated from a FITT Delivery institution world-wide—is Takashi Imai, graduate of the Vancouver Career College international business program.

“This is great news, and it’s a huge credit to him,” said Rick Pasin, Campus Director at Vancouver Career College. “He was there every day, he’s very intelligent, and he was always involved and engaged in the program.”

Strategy for Brazil wins the International Marketing Plan Award

Aitor Molina Encabo of Algonquin College is the winner of our FITT International Marketing Plan Award. His plan focused on an Ottawa company called Flywheel Energy Systems, and detailed a strategy to help the company expand into the Brazilian market.

Aitor comes from an engineering background, but has always had an interest in business.

“Since graduated I’ve worked with a small electronics company to secure new clients, and then for a 3D-printing start-up. This enabled me to use my international business training to find new markets and new products, and helped me solve problems for these companies.”

He says that after completing the program he has a much better understanding of how businesses run and how his decisions as an engineer can affect business.

“Aitor was a star performer in the international business program,” says Norman Lomow, CITP|FIBP, Professor and FITT Coordinator at Algonquin. “He came to classes with enthusiasm, was always up-to-date on issues and subjects of an international business, economics and political nature, and he always acted with a very professional approach.”

Business Plan Award for helping Blackfly enter New York State

The winner of the 2013 FITT International Business Plan Award is Patrick Godon, a graduate of Fanshawe College. Patrick’s plan focused on Blackfly—a London, Ontario-based producer of vodka and tequila mixed drinks made with premium ingredients including pure juices. The company was curious about possible expansion into the United States. Patrick developed a business plan for potential market-entry into New York State.

“It was a big project and it was a lot of work, but I’m really glad the work paid off.”

The international business plan project helps students develop the skills to create compelling business reports, says Patrick’s former instructor, Murray Morgan, CITP|FIBP.

“Patrick consistently asked how he could improve his assignment, which prompted him to gather additional market and competitive intelligence. He is to be commended for his efforts. Winning FITT’s International Business Plan Award is a fine achievement to add to one’s resume.”

Two outstanding candidates win the FITT Achievement Award

There are two winners for the 2013 FITT Achievement Award—both of whom have shown notable combinations of community involvement and academic success. These two individuals have gone above and beyond their studies to earn real-world experience with companies and organizations in their communities, and they brought that knowledge back and acted as mentors to their fellow peers!

Laura Barnard is a fourth year student in the International Business Management Program at Conestoga College.

“She is very hardworking, highly motivated, and she has a very hands-on can-do attitude,” says Oded Tal, who taught Laura in five courses during her four-year program.

Laura completed an internship with Blackberry, where she received mentorship from a Director. She then went on to start working with a local tech start-up in Waterloo called EnFlick, where she is still employed as a Fulfillment Specialist.  Using her experience and the theoretical knowledge she gained during her international trade studies, Laura is looking forward to helping EnFlick expand into several foreign markets.

I would love to see myself working for an international firm either in Canada or internationally.

“The types of business are pretty basic, but when you go international you get to work with different cultures and you get to mix with different types of people, and I think that’s what draws me in. I want the opportunity to see what different people are like all around the world,” says Laura.

Patrick Belliveau, our second winner, is a grad from Sheridan College’s Global Business Management Program. During his time at Sheridan, Patrick worked as a student ambassador for Pearson Education, and was later elected as a representative to the company’s North American Student Advisory Board. Patrick also did a market research internship with Innovation Norway, where he was able to perform Canadian market research for Norwegian companies to identify potential new business opportunities.

“My co-op placement with Innovation Norway sort of kick-started everything for me,” said Patrick. “It’s the first time I was directly involved in international business.

My favourite part was getting to see a product in stores that wasn’t previously available to Canadian consumers. That was quite rewarding.

Patrick acted as a mentor to other students in the program and added a lot of value to the learning environment, says Charles Minken, Program Coordinator for Sheridan’s School of Business, and Patrick’s former instructor.

“He’s good at researching and he’s very analytical, but he’s also good at communicating and networking. He really has a lot of good qualities, and I foresee him doing well in his career.”

Patrick now works for Ford’s National Sales Operations Team as a Western Scheduling Analyst, and says he sincerely doubts he’ll ever stop his involvement in international business.

Good going and best wishes to all the FITT Educational Award winners!

Keep in touch; we can’t wait to hear about you’re your future endeavors and adventures in the world international business!

Readers, it’s your turn to congratulate our winners in the comments section!

The post Know your next international trade achievers! Winners of the 2013 FITT Educational Award appeared first on Trade Ready.