Valley Rubber
Valley Rubber is a manufacturer of custom rubber solutions for tough mining and industrial applications that require an innovative approach. The company has been in business for over 50 years and has established itself as a leader in the Mining industry. It has been ranked on the INC 5000 list five times as being one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States.
The Alabama International Trade Center, part of the Alabama SBDC Network, has worked with Valley Rubber since 2011 providing a variety of services and expertise. AITC team members conducted market research to identify new potential export markets, provided in-house export training on a variety of export-related topics, identified and vetted potential foreign distributors, and provided assistance in the formulation of export market entry strategies. Additional assistance was supplied in relation to the new USMCA Trade Agreement, classifications, Duty Drawback, and supply chain engineering. Further work on website SEO and globalization has also been helpful for Valley Rubber.
Valley Rubber has made full use of the Export Alabama Alliance by working with agencies including the Alabama Department of Commerce and the US Commercial Service. They received STEP Grants from the Alabama Department of Commerce to support their ISO Certifications, which lead to export to South America. Valley Rubber received assistance from the State of Alabama STEP Grant to attend trade shows in Chile (Exponor) and Peru (Perumin).
Valley Rubber now exports to Mexico, Canada, Chile, Peru, Australia and China. According to the Export Team at Valley Rubber “Our partnership with the AITC over the past several years has been very beneficial. We’ve received valuable export information, training and guidance, which has allowed us to further expand into South America and grow the business.”
Eduardo Cuneo, export sales manager says that,
The Alabama International Trade Center is a helping hand, always ready to serve and grow Alabama Exports to the world. The research of specific markets, in our case mining, countries, webinars (during COVID), calls to see if we need help, etc. Alabama International Trade Center is an active partner of businesses in Alabama to overcome the challenges of going into new markets.”