When U.S. agricultural businesses and trade associations face barriers to exports overseas, or attempt to enter new markets, many seek assistance from Douglas Freeman. He’s not an attorney or a travel agent, but he does oversee a program that can help U.S. exporters enter or maintain international markets.

For five years, Freeman has managed the $10 million Emerging Markets Program (EMP) for USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. The program provides flexible funding assistance to help exporters overcome trade constraints and to seek new markets for their products. It is also an important resource for training exporters and foreign governments, preparing them for trade.

"There are few dull moments, and that’s a part of the job I love," said Freeman. "The variety of issues and problems this program deals with keeps the job interesting. I work a lot with the private sector and with FAS attachés and other USDA agencies to help exporters. I also like the responsibility of heading a program and working with the program’s staff."

There are many examples of how the EMP assists exporters, and fast turnaround time in crucial situations is one of the program’s strengths. An example occurred five years ago, in Africa. U.S. rice is renowned in Africa for its quality, but at the time there were unscrupulous companies selling broken foreign rice in American containers — and at U.S. prices — damaging U.S. reputation and sales. U.S. rice trade groups used money from the Emerging Markets Program to educate consumers and quickly bring the deceptive practice to a halt.

Of course, prevention is just as important as finding solutions. Freeman is also proud of the program’s efforts to help minority agribusinesses in the United States embark on exporting through a training program created in cooperation with the Southern United States Trade Association. Since 1999, over 100 minority-owned businesses have taken this export readiness training throughout the southeastern United States. More than 73 percent have been able to move their business to the world stage.

"FAS gives me the freedom to be creative in solving problems," Freeman said. He adds that he loves speaking with U.S. businesses about the program because he believes in it. He also noted that when a company hears about EMP, it is often impressed by its flexibility.