Six of the seven firms operating out of the accelerator are Indian companies; new businesses promise investment and jobs.
LARGO, MD: Three more Indian companies have opened offices at the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation’s India Business Center in Largo, MD, and another three are expected to move in later this week.
Two of the three new companies — MIG Media Neurons and sRs McCoy —officially began operations at the accelerator, based just out of Washington, DC, on August 10, in the presence of EDC President and CEO Jim Coleman and Chris Higginbotham, Deputy Director of Outreach at SelectUSA.
Speaking to the American Bazaar immediately after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, top officials of the two companies described their plans and also explained why they found the Maryland county attractive.
sRs McCoy Director Sohil Sachdeva said his company has initial plans to invest anywhere from $2 million to $3 million in this country. The company, which manufactures rubber profiles, windshields and door shields for automobiles, has a number of US clients.
“We are here for the same manufacturing business,” Sachdeva said. “PG County has helped us a lot. They gave us a platform to stand on to. I am going to create some jobs here.”
RELATED: Maryland’s India Business Center is a one-stop-shop for Indian companies: Pradeep Ganguly (November 19, 2015)
MIG Media Neurons, a business promotion firm that organizes and manages trade shows, publications, and business events, will hire seven employees locally, its founder and Chairman Rushikesh Bhavskar, said.
At the moment, the company employs 27 people, mostly in Ahmadabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, where it is headquartered.
“I have been doing business with USA for long time,” Bhavskar said. “The kind of support, the kind of conducive environment I got from Prince George’s county, it excited me. So I thought of starting the operations here.”
“We welcome the world to Prince George’s County,” Coleman said welcoming the companies.
RELATED: Two more Indian companies open offices at PG County’s India Business Center (November 19, 2015)
“I congratulate MIG Media Neurons on its expansion to the United States and wish the company the best of luck on continued growth,” SelectUSA Executive Director Fred Volcansek said in an email.
The mission of SelectUSA, which is part of the International Trade Administration at the United States Department of Commerce, is to facilitate investments into the United States.
Both MIG Media Neurons and sRs McCoy learned about the India Business Center at a recent SelectUSA event.
“I also congratulate Prince George’s County on its continued success attracting global companies and creating jobs in Maryland,” Volcansek wrote. “We are very proud to see how the SelectUSA Investment Summit is helping economic development teams meet high quality global partners.”
With the addition of MIG Media Neurons and sRs McCoy, the number of Indian businesses operating out of the accelerator, based in Largo, MD, just outside the Capital Beltway, has gone up to six. They include an IT services firm, a trucking business and an engineering company.
According to Dr. Pradeep Ganguly, Executive Vice President of the Economic Development Corporation, six companies have graduated from the India Business Center and gone on to scale their businesses in the past couple of years.
Dr. Ganguly, an Indian American, praised SelectUSA, saying that EDC’s partnership with it has helped his group to sell it better in India and other countries.
Plug-and-play office space
In a nutshell, the India Business Center, like many accelerators, provides plug-and-play office space to companies.
“That means you can just bring a laptop, and you are in business,” Dr. Ganguly, who’s the brain behind the Center, told the American Bazaar. “We provide not just the office space but all kinds of wrap-around services, including concierge services for small businesses, help with registration of the company as a US corporation, help them open bank accounts, get them help with accounting services, so that they do accounting both in India and the United States. We provide them assistance with legal services. Assist them with attorneys that would help them [various] visas.”
Dr. Ganguly said, besides India, his organization also focuses on China, Brazil and several Latin American and African countries.
But clearly, India has been among its biggest success stories.
He explained the reason. “We find that many Indian companies are at that level where they are willing to take that risks associated with scaling up, going to a new market like the USA and establishing shop there,” Dr. Ganguly said. “They see their future growth to be tied to the US economy. Now they realize that being here, they are sourcing a lot of row materials from this country. Being in the US firm allows them to not just procure, but secure the supply chain of the raw materials. Which means there is less uncertainty and lower prices because the shipping costs go down.”
Dr. Ganguly said by manufacturing products in the United States, Indian and other international companies are able to deliver products on time for their US customers. “But more importantly, it helps them make the products labeled “Made in the USA,” the value of which is immeasurable,” he said. “When you have a product made in the USA, that means it is guaranteed to be of highest quality, it is reliable, it is dependable and it will perform the way it is supposed to perform. So the Made in USA label is very, very valuable for companies. That’s the reason many of these Indian companies and companies from other places want to come here and establish.”
The EDC official said by opening an office here Indian companies get an opportunity to establish in the US and sell products and services to the global market. “Being here allows them to continue their business in India, but get a foothold in the US market.”
In return, the county benefits when international businesses set up shops here. He added: “They do manufacturing here. They would do some sourcing from here. They would hire local workers. So both gain. It support President Trump’s vision of “Make in America” and it supports [Indian] Prime Minister Modi’s vision of Make in India.”