31/05/2011 
Maurice has been a Trade Professional for 50 years. That’s a half-century! He served with the Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, U.S. Foreign Commercial Service for over 30 years, beginning in 1961, and ultimately directing their entire office. Mr. Kogon now directs the El Camino office of the CITD, California International Trade Development office, where he has been employed since leaving the ITA in 1994.
Mr. Kogon attended American University where he obtained a M.A. in Foreign Affairs and George Washington University where he obtained a Candidancy in Ph.D. in International Relations. His 50+ year tenure as a trade professional has honed him into one of the most respected sages on the planet.
In my 10 years as CEO of CenTradeX, I had the privilege of occasionally working with Mr. Kogon in our role as a vendor to the State of California (CITD trade offices who utilized our Trade Intelligence products) as well as during the annual NASBITE conferences (we were a regular presenter and exhibitor) where he presided as board member, president and/or guiding hand. His quiet, non-assuming manner cloaks the imminent authority of his vast experience and insight.
When CenTradeX was developing an innovative trade portal, called the Virtual Trade Advisor (kind of like “Web MD” for Trade) for the State of Pennsylvania, the ONLY “outside” expert that PA director Pete O’Neil wanted feedback and critique from (prior to launch) was Maurice. (BTW, Pete’s international trade office was recently awarded the President’s export excellence award. PA has the international trade budget and resources of 10 states put together and are wholly committed to increasing exports and attracting foreign investment.) Notwithstanding, Mr. Kogon was acknowledged as the “Godfather” of trade.
Maurice Kogan, Director of CITD trade resources and links
Whether identified as sage, guru, Godfather, or simply as director for the El Camino CITD, Maurice continues to make waves. He has assembled and organized perhaps the most comprehensive collection of links, sources and resources on International Trade. You can access this vast trade database on the CITD web site. Barney Lehrer of FITA recently informed me that Maurice generously shared these accumulated treasures for integration within their new venture: GlobalTrade.net – a Network of International Trade Services. So you will likely see the influence of his research there as well.
Maurice has developed many valuable tools for assisting new-to-export or veteran traders. Of particular note are a series of podcasts on export assistance found at ExportAssist.org. Funded by the CITD, these are free educational resources created to help your company export competitively.
In this collection of 18 short episodes, Maurice will walk you through all phases of the export process from getting started, to getting paid and delivering the goods. Throughout the series, he will share resources that can help motivate and prepare you to export successfully, including free Web resources and further reading… such as:
Maurice Kogon is truly one of the central intelligences within the world of trade intelligence.
World Trade Daily 
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