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DOING BUSINESS WITH THE EURASIA FOUNDATION
by Bill Raisner

Training local personnel can be a major business expense in the
Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. 
Several  U.S.  firms have partially funded their training needs
there through the Eurasia Foundation, a privately-managed
nonprofit organization established by the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID).  The Foundation provides small
grants (averaging from $25,000 to $75,000) for projects
supporting economic reform and democratic institution building. 
While most grants go to nonprofit groups, the foundation
encourages proposals from private companies which focus on
projects with a charitable or educational purpose that support 
it's goals of promoting economic reform and democratic
institution building. 

In preparing a proposal, a U.S. company should remember that the
Foundation's mission is essentially charitable.  Successful grant
applications are not limited solely to the applicant's own
personnel or business partners, but extend to a larger public and
educational purpose.  Significantly, applicants who have enlarged
their training programs to meet Eurasia Foundation requirements
have benefitted from a wider range of business and political
contacts as a result.

International Technology Group (ITG) of Carlsbad, California,
which designs and manufactures agricultural equipment, used a
$20,000 Eurasia Foundation grant to conduct a quality-control
seminar in the Russian industrial city of Kirov.  After declining
to support a seminar focused solely on a joint-venture partner,
the foundation agreed to fund a program  open to a wider audience
of regional managers, municipal leaders, and academics--with
unexpected benefits for ITG.  The seminar not only solidified
ITG's relations with their initial partner, it allowed them to
develop valuable contacts with two other Kirov enterprises, local
leaders, and research institutes.  Calling the seminar "one of
the most gratifying experiences I've had in my life," George
Jenkins, ITG's Chief Executive Officer  told BISNIS Bulletin that
ITG started "dealing with one factory.  Now we're dealing with
three."  Jenkins also noted the capacity of the seminar to
generate local political support.  This is reflected in a
statement by the governor of the Kirov region that it "is
necessary to continue cooperation with ITG" because "Russians and
Americans are natural partners in business." 

Blue Marble Partners (BMP), a California-based business
consulting, valuation, and corporate development firm, has also
benefitted through a Eurasia Foundation project.  BMP obtained a
$70,000 grant for a training program conducted throughout Russia
by the Russian Society of Appraisers (RSA), a recently organized
non-profit professional society.   Working closely with RSA to
develop training materials and organize seminars on Western
principles of valuation, feasibility, and market analysis, BMP
enhanced its reputation for expertise in Russia and became more
successful in providing consulting services to Western  investors
and NIS companies.  As a result of their involvement in a seminar
in Volgograd,  BMP  obtained an ongoing consulting assignment
with VPZ, a large ball-bearing manufacturer in the region.  With
an eye to the benefits of the project in helping him market
Russian firms, BMP's President, Richard Reece, noted that
"because of the Eurasia grant, professional Russian appraisal
reports and feasibility studies contain the language, accounting
reports, appraisal principles, and appraisal techniques that
Westerners can understand." 

Other U.S. companies sponsoring projects with Eurasia Foundation
support include AeroMap U.S. Inc., Connolly International Ltd.,
Institute of Municipal Government, Land O' Lakes Inc., Mitacom
Inc.,  Nova Mass Media and Educational Center, OR/Ed Laboratories
Inc., and Scientex Corporation.  Most of these projects have been
broadly educational in nature, providing NIS business people,
journalists, and government leaders with skills they need to
function in a democratic, free-market society.  For contact
information and specific guidance on how to submit a proposal to
the Eurasia Foundation, call Flashfax at (202) 482-3145 and order
document #6875.
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