Creation of the USEAC network can be best understood in the context of sweeping efforts made during this decade to strengthen federal delivery of export promotion services. During 1991-93, we conducted a number of reviews of federal export promotion activities. We then reported on a governmentwide effort that cost over $2.7 billion and that was fragmented among several agencies with no overarching strategy or explicit set of priorities. Among our specific findings, we reported that U.S. firms seeking export assistance were likely to become confused and discouraged by the multiple networks of domestic offices maintained by federal agencies for delivering export services. Partially in response to our work, Congress enacted the Export Enhancement Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-429, Oct. 21, 1992), which created in statute the interagency Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) and tasked it with developing a strategic plan for strengthening federal export promotion services. This legislation also directed the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service—the Commerce Department agency responsible for managing its domestic field network—to utilize its district offices as “one-stop-shops.” These shops would be able to (1) provide exporters with information on all U.S. government export promotion and export finance services, (2) assist exporters in identifying which federal programs may be of greatest assistance, and (3) help exporters make contact with those federal programs. TPCC, on September 30, 1993, issued its first National Export Strategy report, which contained 65 recommendations for federal action to help U.S. exporters. Among these, the strategy recommended the creation of “one-stop shops” that would integrate primarily representatives of the Department of Commerce and SBA—two federal agencies with extensive export promotion field networks—and Eximbank. It further recommended that the agencies establish four pilot “one-stop shops” in Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami. As envisioned by the strategy, these “one-stop shops” would exceed the minimum requirements of the 1992 Export Enhancement Act in that they would actually contain the staff of the three agencies rather than simply have Commerce staff provide information about these and other agencies’ export programs. In commenting on the National Export Strategy, we presented our views on the process for creating the network of “one-stop shops.” We stated that, before establishing an expansive network, the participating agencies should first evaluate the results of the four pilots to determine whether providing the full range of export promotion services in an integrated way can increase the value to the business community of federal export promotion assistance. We further stated that the aim of the USEAC network should not simply be to co-locate or even coordinate, but “to integrate and make more accessible a range of export services aimed at small- to medium-sized export-ready firms.” (Emphasis added.) With Commerce taking the lead, the three agencies by January 1994 had established the four pilot “one-stop shops”—now called U.S. Export Assistance Centers. Although the TPCC’s export strategy stated that these USEACs would go through a rigorous evaluation process, Commerce and its partner agencies decided to move forward with expanding the network before such evaluations could be concluded. By late February 1996, the three agencies had expanded the network to 14 USEACs, along with 10 District Export Assistance Centers (DEAC), which have only Commerce staff and are connected to the USEACs in a hub-and-spoke system. Commerce and its partner agencies opened four additional DEACs by June 1996 and have plans to further expand the network in the future. USEAC staff and customers, and officials of nonfederal partner organizations told us that, because of the USEACs, U.S. firms are more knowledgeable about and have access to a broader range of federal and nonfederal export services. Customers, however, also indicated that USEACs can improve the delivery of those services to the U.S. export community. Approximately 63 percent of the USEAC staff responding to our survey said that establishment of the USEACs had increased the overall quality of export services to a great or very great extent. About 80 percent of our respondents stated that the USEACs had, in particular, substantially increased customer access to the full range of federal export promotion services to a great or very great extent. Eighty-two percent of the survey respondents also cited significant increased cooperation among the staffs of the three participating agencies, which we believe would help to expand the availability of federal export services as USEAC staff work collaboratively or refer clients to partner agencies. During our visits to the four USEACs, we learned of some specific examples of USEAC staff taking the initiative to enhance the value of their services to exporters by working closely with federal and nonfederal partner organizations. These examples demonstrate the potential benefits that can be derived from creation of the USEACs. At the Baltimore USEAC, the Commerce staff made an effort, as part of their counseling activities, to generate clients for the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority, a state agency that provides export financing. At the Long Beach, California, USEAC, the director introduced the “Export-Trade Assistance Partnership” program, which sought to utilize the skills and knowledge of federal and nonfederal partner organizations to increase the export know-how of firms that are not yet ready to export. At the Chicago and Miami USEACs, the Eximbank and SBA staffs closely coordinated their outreach efforts. These individuals were familiar with the financing services of both agencies and referred clients when appropriate. We surveyed the four USEACs’ 60 “best customers” (15 for each USEAC) who had received services from more than one USEAC agency, as identified by the USEAC directors. Of the 40 “best customers” who responded to our survey, a majority stated that they were very satisfied with the export services provided by the USEACs. Their satisfaction was based on such factors as timeliness, staff knowledge, and usefulness of the services obtained. However, the customers responding to our survey also saw room for improvement in USEAC agency efforts to work as a unit in the delivery of services. Of the 28 customers who acknowledged receiving services from a second USEAC agency, 11 (40 percent) indicated that they had found the second agency by themselves, rather than through their USEAC contact. We also found that, of the 17 customers who did acknowledge receiving services from the second agency as a result of their USEAC contact, 12 stated that they had received useful services from more than one government agency. Several of the customers we interviewed told us that the USEAC staff member(s) they regularly worked with did not inform them of the full range of services provided by the USEACs, even after they had expressed a need for the services of another USEAC agency. The decision by Commerce and its partner agencies to co-locate staff (rather than just meet the minimum requirements of the 1992 Export Enhancement Act) presented an opportunity to substantially improve the delivery of federal export promotion services. On the basis of our site visits, surveys, and discussions with USEAC staff, customers, and nonfederal partners, we identified certain basic interagency mechanisms that, if established, could better ensure an improved delivery of services. Despite the increased cooperation among agency staffs, we found during our interviews with USEAC staff that they did not consistently work as a team. For example, we learned that individuals at certain USEACs were reluctant to recommend the services of another agency, even to clients who expressed a need, because they were unfamiliar with that agency’s performance in delivering the service. To better promote teamwork, USEAC directors told us they needed authority to contribute to USEAC staff appraisals with regard to intra-USEAC teamwork. To do this, the agencies would need to include on their appraisals a performance factor on intra-USEAC teamwork and develop relevant performance measures. These performance measures could specify, for instance, the number of referrals among USEAC staffs and, possibly, how often such referrals led to export promotion or financing services. Currently, each agency appraises its own staff. The appraisal forms for Commerce and SBA staff contain at least one factor directly relating to intra-USEAC teamwork. Commerce officials informed us that the agency informally permits USEAC directors (i.e., those who are not Commerce employees) to contribute to appraisals of Commerce staff with regard to several USEAC-related factors. SBA officials informed us that the agency has formally given USEAC directors (i.e., those who are not SBA employees) authority to contribute to appraisals of SBA staff with regard to one USEAC-related factor. The Eximbank has this issue under consideration as part of a major restructuring of the agency’s performance appraisal system. To further improve the quality of services to customers, USEAC directors and staff acknowledged their need for a USEAC-wide, computer-based client tracking system. With such a system, USEAC staff would be able to readily obtain information that another agency might have on a potential client or determine whether it has already received services from another USEAC agency. We believe that having this ability would help ensure that USEAC staff do not suggest inappropriate services or make duplicate requests for information. Such a system could also serve as a source for identifying potential clients to pursue in marketing export services. At the time of our visits, the agencies at each of the four USEACs used a separate client tracking system. Commerce staff used the agency’s “Commercial Information Management System”—a worldwide data base that links Commerce headquarters, its domestic field network, and overseas offices. Eximbank staff used an off-the-shelf computer program for maintaining information on customers. SBA staff used mostly paper filing systems but sometimes employed the Commerce or Eximbank data bases. Commerce had offered to make its system available to all USEAC staff but staff we spoke with did not support such a move.