RICHMOND, VA — Governor Glenn Youngkin on Jan 22nd, announced that 10 companies across the Commonwealth of Virginia are graduating from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s Virginia Leaders in Export Trade (VALET) program, and 17 companies have joined the two-year program. VALET, which now has 412 graduated companies, assists Virginia exporters that have firmly established domestic operations and are committed to international exporting as a growth strategy. 

  “The VALET program provides an integral framework for Virginia businesses seeking growth into the global marketplace,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Congratulations to these organizations that recognize international trade is invaluable to Virginia’s economy and are participating in this program to expand internationally.”  

The graduating companies are:

• Conflict Kinetics (Fairfax County)

• Diamondback Toolbelts (Albermarle County)  

• Enterprise Knowledge (Arlington County) 

• Euro-Composites Corporation (Culpeper County) 

• HUB Corporation (City of Roanoke) 

• MATBOCK (City of Virginia Beach) 

• Morcom International, Inc. (Loudoun?County) 

• Tax Analysts (City of Falls Church) 

• TECHLAB, Inc. (Montgomery County) 

• Turman Sawmill (Carroll County) 

VALET is a two-year international business acceleration program providing participating companies with international sales plan development services, assistance from a team of experienced international service providers, international business meetings with potential partners, educational events and customized market research. The program has a proven track record, generating an average increase of 78% in international sales for participating companies. 

“The VALET program has prepared hundreds of Virginia businesses for international markets for more than 20 years, leading to successful expansion of international sales,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick. “This award-winning program provides long-term economic benefits for Virginia’s diverse array of businesses and solidifies the Commonwealth as a leader in international trade.” 

Currently, there are 58 companies participating in the VALET program, including the following 17 companies that joined Jan. 21.  

• Air-Tite Products Co., Inc. (City of Virginia Beach) 

• Caretaker Medical (Albermarle County) 

• Ceres Nanosciences (Prince William County) 

• CMP Global, Inc. (City of Suffolk) 

• Electronic Development Labs (Pittsylvania County) 

• Exotic Nutrition Pet Supply (City of Newport News) 

• Fulcrum Concepts, LLC (King and Queen County) 

• InBio (City of Charlottesville) 

• Jody's Popcorn (City of Norfolk) 

• Kaléo (City of Richmond) 

• MAG Aerospace (Fairfax County) 

• Marine Acoustics (Arlington County) 

• Nedia Enterprises, Inc. (Loudoun?County) 

• Oransi (City of Radford) 

• Porvair Filtration Group (Hanover County) 

• Quokka (Arlington County) 

• Valcom (Roanoke County) 

“Virginia is invested in being a leading player in the global economy,”?said VEDP President and CEO Jason El Koubi. “The world-class VALET program helps Virginia businesses achieve this goal through increased international sales, as well as trade-supported job creation in Virginia. We are excited to see the outcomes that these recently graduated and newly enrolled VALET program businesses will accomplish.” 

Virginia exports $70 billion in goods and services annually. VEDP International Trade supports 500 existing Virginia companies in their international business development efforts each year. Last year, these companies attributed $1.5 billion in international sales to VEDP’s assistance, and these sales supported over 13,700 jobs for Virginians. VEDP offers numerous programs to assist Virginia companies with selling in the global marketplace and has a network of international market research consultants covering 120 countries. 

VEDP was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1995 to encourage, stimulate and support the development and expansion of the economy of the Commonwealth. To accomplish its objectives of promoting economic expansion within the Commonwealth, VEDP focuses its efforts on business recruitment, expansion and international trade development. 

More information on the VALET program is available here.