The Center for Global Business (CGB) at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business will feature five Maryland-based exporting firms for their best practices in COVID perseverance, via a “Maryland Business Adapts” roundtable event forthcoming this spring.

The Center for Global Business (CGB) celebrated the global mindset, activities, and research at Maryland Smith via a series of virtual activities during International Education Week (IEW) from November 16-20, 2020. Over 500 members of the school community participated in the activities that took place throughout the week. This nationwide event is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S.

Even when the global economy came to a halt due to COVID-19, business still carried on. In Maryland, companies found a way to weather the storm and now they are sharing their lessons with others. This spring, the Center for Global Business (CGB) at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is recognizing companies that persevered through the pandemic with its Maryland Business Adapts 20/21 initiative.

The Center for Global Business (CGB) presented the sixth installment in an ongoing series of webinars by the MAPIT Alliance, “Don’t Be a No-Show: Making the Most of Virtual Trade Shows.” In light of current limitations on travel, this edition provided insights and best practices on how to navigate virtual trade shows and maximize the virtual experience as both an event sponsor and organizer. It also presented resources available from the MAPIT Alliance partners to support companies’ export initiatives.

This summer the Center for Global Business at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business organized the first Global Marketing Virtual Internship program, a program the center plans to make a yearly affair. Twenty-two Maryland Smith undergraduate students were selected from a pool of over 100 applicants to participate in the cohort-based 10-week program focused on website globalization and digital marketing. The students were placed with Maryland and D.C.-based companies that export their products and services abroad.

The Center for Global Business presented the fourth installment in an ongoing series of webinars by the MAPIT Alliance, “Where Are All Your International Customers? Finding Them with the Right Online Market Research.” Continuing with the format of focusing on one part of the exporting process, this episode was created to introduce companies to different tools and strategies for conducting market research, and to connect them with existing export resources from the partners of the MAPIT Alliance.

The Center for Global Business closed out the spring semester successfully with the completion of several thought-leadership initiatives and the launch of a new summer program. Although spring delivered unexpected disruptions due to COVID-19, the center remained committed to its mission of being the driving force behind global learning at Maryland Smith.

The Center for Global Business presented the third installment in an ongoing series of webinars by the MAPIT Alliance, “You Can’t Travel, But Your Products Can: Shipping Logistics During a Pandemic.” Building on the previous webinars focused on website globalization and digital marketing strategies, the third webinar was designed to inform companies of the challenges experienced with exporting due to COVID-19 disruptions and how to overcome them.

“Everyone is Online: Reaching your Global Customer Through Digital Marketing” was the second webinar in an ongoing series from the Maryland Partners in International Trade (MAPIT), Alliance, a partnership of the Maryland Smith Center for Global Business, Maryland-D.C. District Export Council, the Office of International Investment and Trade at the Maryland Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Baltimore.

Greg Rafal, assistant director at the Center for Global Business, writes about the 2020 faculty-led, short-term winter semester program. Undergraduate students at the Robert H. Smith School of Business completed another successful cycle of the faculty-led, short-term study abroad programs. This past winter semester, the Center for Global Business offered five programs that explored different topics in social entrepreneurship and innovation, accounting, supply chain management, globalization, and Brexit.