Georgia Exporter Spotlight: AdEdge Water Technologies

A Q&A interview with Rich Cavagnaro, President & CEO

County: Gwinnett

Industry: Manufacturing; Environmental Technology

Founded in 2002 and headquartered just north of Atlanta, Georgia, AdEdge Water Technologies specializes in water treatment solutions, specialty medias and innovative technologies that remove a wide range of contaminants from water.

What motivated your company to start selling internationally?

Due to the nature of our product and its use in infrastructure projects, AdEdge was doing really well under the stimulus plan initiated during the Great Recession. However, we realized around 2010-2011 that we would be facing a significant decline in domestic projects when the stimulus money ran out. We decided to proactively reposition ourselves and look for international opportunities to offset any potential downturn in sales. We began targeting countries with known arsenic issues in the water supply as these markets showed the greatest potential for our filtration installations. It was actually one of GDEcD’s trade managers who saw the potential for our product in the Chilean market and suggested we attend the Expomin tradeshow in Santiago. At the show, we established relationships with key partners including the largest private water supplier in Chile. Our relationship with that partner continued to develop and helped solidify our export success in the South American market.

What is the biggest lesson your company has learned about exporting?

The biggest lesson we’ve learned is to choose the right partner. It is essential to have partners you can trust and who can help establish relationships and connections that will make you successful in each market. You must also be willing to evolve and re-evaluate your international business plan as market needs change over time. The challenges we face today are different from five years ago and we’ve learned to modify our approach to maintain and grow our footprint in each market.

How have GDEcD’s International Trade Team and its partners helped your company achieve success internationally?

GDEcD has been helpful to AdEdge on so many levels – from providing opportunities to exhibit at tradeshows to accessing grant programs such as the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Metro Export Challenge. Their team has the ability to recognize and connect the dots in terms of what markets to consider or what tradeshows to attend – having access to that expertise has been enormously helpful. There is no question that GDEcD’s team in Atlanta and its in-country representatives played a critical role in identifying potential export opportunities and helping us establish a presence in the South American market.

What advice do you have for companies that are just starting to export?

To be honest, the first thing I would say is develop a working relationship with GDEcD’s international trade team. They can assess your export situation and provide you with the resources you need to be successful. There are so many organizations in Georgia that help companies navigate the export process and GDEcD can connect you with the programs and services that best meet your company’s needs.

What has been your biggest export achievement?

Successfully re-positioning ourselves back in 2010 to expand our sales internationally really kept us in business when the U.S. economy hit a downturn; if we hadn’t made that shift we might not have made it through some of those years. Incorporating export into our overall business strategy helped us remain afloat through a very difficult economic climate.

I’m also very proud of the work we’ve accomplished in international communities using our technology to improve water quality and safety. Providing safe and clean water is one of AdEdge’s core values and it is truly a joyful experience to see the impact our international projects have on the quality of life in the communities we work in.

To learn more about AdEdge Water Technologies visit www.adedgetech.com.

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Are you a Georgia business looking for help growing your international sales? Find out how Georgia’s International Trade Team can help at Georgia.org/Trade.