NASBITE (National Association of Small Business & International Trade Educators) Past, Present & Future, Part I

NASBITE  International is a professional organization for the global business community.  Members include global business educators and trainers at academic institutions; trade specialists at every level and global business practitioners.  The mission is to advance global business practice, education and training.  NASBITE has 4 main goals:

• To coordinate and administer the Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) certification.
• To promote an exchange of information and resources among global business education and assistance professionals
• To offer professional development for those engaged in global business education and assistance
• To provide advocacy and leadership for global business education and assistance professionals

We, at World Trade Daily, had the opportunity to attend the 25th NASBITE Conference in Portland, OR. last week.  We collected information, opinions and experiences from those who attended.

Barbara Moebius

NASBITE Past

Barbara Moebius is considered “Mother NASBITE” and as one of the founding members is considered the historian. She was the an attendee at the very first NASBITE Conference in 1988. She was president in 2000 and has been on the Board of Directors for 25 years. Needless to say, she has seen many changes over the years. “In 1988, the idea of export training was a new idea.  Using videos was new.  We did not know if others were doing this kind of work.”  says Barbara.  “In the ’80s it was all about the trade deficit. Now it is about the national deficit .”  The early days of NASBITE saw board of director meetings that lasted 3 days and into the wee hours of each morning. They were passionate about the goal to get the world to recognize the global community.  It was in 2000 at the Boston conference that the idea of a credential came up. The next 12 years of NASBITE was all about professionalizing the field of international trade education through the CGBP.  Link to NASBITE Board of Governors & Staff.

NASBITE Present

Currently NASBITE is considered “The nation’s preeminent organization for international business education, training and certification.”

This April 2012 is their 25th annual conference, where the 1000th person received certification in the Certified Global Business Professional program (CGBP). The organization is in good financial standing.  Its host institution is Cleveland State University. They have an excellent website:  www.nasbitecgbp.org.  The Small Business Association has accepted the CGBP for those in Small Business Development Centers.

Bob Irwin (University of Georgia, Lawrenceville GA) President until April 21,2012, now joins Barbara Moebius as a member of the very elite group called the Distinguished Fellows which is the council of past NASBITE presidents.   Their purpose is to advise the present board on budgetary concerns, university relations, etc.

Barbara Moebius was presented with the 2012 John Otis Lifetime Achievement Award at the conference. There have only been 3 persons who have received this award.  It was established in 2004 for John Otis, the original founder and who is now struggling with cancer.

Donna Davisson, Executive Director

The participants at the conference were both professional and friendly. There is definitely a sense of comradeship and shared passion among the members of NASBITE. For example,  when Barbara accepted her award she announced that anyone willing to contribute to John Otis’ expensive treatment could do so through the NASBITE website.

Conference sessions were plentiful, well attended and covered diverse topics.  Donna Davisson, LCB, CGBP, as Executive Director of NASBITE made sure the conference, which was held at the Nines Hotel in downtown Portland with its approximately 300 attendees, went smoothly.