Helping foreigners crack N.C. market

TCG assists businesses too small to get attention of state, U.S. recruiters

DURHAM -- Kenneth West and his colleagues do a lot of hand-holding on the job.

The five executives make up Technology Commercialization Group, and they make their living by helping foreign companies move into North Carolina.

Such work is left to the state's Department of Commerce and various economic groups, but the reality is that those groups go after large companies with big budgets and work forces.

The companies that TCG helps are small: Most employ fewer than 100 workers. And the idea of dealing with American culture, American regulators and American business practices is daunting for them.

"The U.S. market is very big, very enticing but also very scary," West said.

West and his partners help those businesses navigate the red tape and cultural differences, bringing their experience working with local biotech companies to bear. Companies that hire TCG get services that include help with writing a business plan, establishing a marketing strategy and negotiating packaging information with the Food and Drug Administration.

West started the business about nine years ago with Jim Sheldon and Paul Waugaman, acquaintances from his days at Biolex, an NCSU biotech spinoff in Pittsboro. They had gotten to know one another by negotiating deals. The three were later joined by Dennis Burns and Bob Keefer, who were also part of the Triangle's biotech research and development community.

The five have focused so far on German companies that want to enter the $80 billion U.S. medical-device market.

A medical-device powerhouse long known for cutting-edge technology, Germany is home to more than 1,000 companies making anything from surgical equipment to prostheses. So far, TCG has brought one company to Durham and expects to bring in two others, possibly as soon as this year.

The N.C. Department of Commerce has an office in Frankfurt, but services offered to small and midsize companies overseas are limited to a referral service and a small-business ombudsman.

"We do have some people providing services," said Kathy Neal, a Commerce spokeswoman. "But are we going to provide legal counsel for your incorporation or set up the books for you? No. That's why you have consultants like TCG."

Avoiding missteps in N.C.

West and his partners have lived and worked overseas and are comfortable navigating the bureaucracies and business etiquette of multiple countries. They can guide their clients to avoid misunderstandings and missteps in the United States, where they have experience negotiating patent protection, regulatory approval, product marketing and business development.

Aside from language difficulties, differences in product marketing can spoil the efforts of foreign companies to crack the U.S. market.

In Europe, marketing brochures sell medical devices by providing elaborate descriptions, West said. In the U.S., marketing is all about the benefits of a device. So West, whose mother is French and who as a child spent many summers with relatives in Europe, often finds himself telling clients: "It's the American style, it's not being brash," he said.

Burns, a former Johnson & Johnson executive, has found himself in similar situations since joining TCG.

Different way of operating

In Europe, academics have a lot more stature than in the United States, Burns said. European physicians are much more likely to accept recommendations from well-known academics about a new device. "Here in the U.S., doctors want to see data, he said. "They say, 'Show me a picture.' "

A European company trying to promote its products at a medical conference is likely to watch its written, expert recommendations land in trash cans, Burns said. That doesn't sit well with the European client and frequently requires diplomacy.