EQUIPMENT SALES

[Photo: Ryan Ketterman]

"We were in the commercial landscape business for 27 years. I recognized about three years ago with the economy that there was not going to be any construction. Enterprise Florida, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, the Jacksonville port and chamber had an eight-week class in becoming certified in exporting. We decided to jump in and see what it was about. We got our first deal for $3 million in Africa. We've been in Africa since then. We are mostly in Nigeria, Ghana. We're in southern Africa. We're doing business in Peru, the Dominican Republic. They want to do business with America, and they want the American way and they want American products. We've exported $9 million in equipment and parts, and we expect to do $20 million this year. I was in Africa 13 times last year."