About Center for International Trade Development (CITD)
Focused on Getting California’s Products into Foreign Markets
Founded in 1989, the mission of the California Center for International Trade Development (CITD) at State Center Community College District is to promote California’s international trade and competitiveness, assist exporters and importers, and advance economic and job growth. CITD assists California business with expanding internationally, as well as helps colleges become more globalized. Fresno’s CITD specializes in export assistance serving California through export training, one-on-one counseling, customized market research, and hosting various buying missions. CITD is an invaluable resource to California-based food processing, agri-business and manufacturing industries by providing a wide-array of services at no or low-cost and advocating on behalf of the industry such as:
- Lead and host incoming buying missions and matching international buyers with California exporters
- Coordinate outgoing buying missions in which California exporters are taken to other countries to meet with buyers and sell their product
- Provide one-on-one-counseling and export training services
- Provide foreign market research and strategic planning
- Complete industry studies, surveys and analysis of trade opportunities and problems
In 2003, CITD entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to become the “defacto export arm” of CDFA whereby Fresno’s CITD leads all incoming international buying missions to California and maintains a statewide agricultural force. CITD boasts a proven track record having coordinated more than 175 agricultural trade missions on behalf of the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Services and California Governor’s Office. Contributing to global trade missions, CITD has trained more than 6,500 companies to promote California food and agricultural products in foreign markets.
This success is documented by more than $100 million in direct export sales and more than $750 million in continuous export sales attributed to participation in CITD trade activity since 1990. During the 2013 program year alone, California led the nation in agriculture exporting totaling $26.1 billion. During that same period, CITD helped to generate more than $32 million in new export sales for California. Along with these noted economic achievements, CITD has received numerous awards including the President’s “E Award” for Export Excellence in 2001 and 2013.
