Former Speaker Hastert Presents SUN OVENS International
an Export Achievement Award
Speaker
Hastert presenting Export Achievement Certificate to
Paul Munsen
On December 18, 2003, Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives Dennis Hastert presented Paul Munsen,
president of Sun Ovens International, with the US Commerce
Department's Export Achievement Certificate. The award
recognized SUN OVENS International for exports to Haiti
that were made with the assistance of the Department
of Commerce's Foreign Commercial Service.
"International Trade is a vital part of our local
economic growth," said Hastert. "Exporting
allows area companies to increase sales, expand their
businesses and create jobs for the people of Illinois.
SUN OVENS International is an outstanding example of
how small business can work with government to take
advantage of international opportunities. I'm proud
to recognize this Illinois company today and am honored
to have them located in my congressional district."
Pictured
is Paul Munsen explaining a GLOBAL SUN OVEN®
to Speaker Dennis Hastert
Photo
courtesy of the Kane County Chronicle
"Haiti is one of the most deforested countries
in the world," said Paul Munsen, president of SUN
OVENS International. "The need for solar cooking
in Haiti is immense. We are very committed to providing
an alternative to cooking with charcoal so that the
few remaining trees in Haiti can be saved and reforestation
can be come effective. Working in Haiti has proved to
be very challenging and we have needed to take a unique
approach to developing this market. Due to the extreme
poverty and lack of many basic resources, we found that
we cannot market in Haiti the same way that we do in
other developing countries. We have been working in
Haiti since we started the business in 1998 and have
taken an approach that has involved combining the efforts
of private sector business, NGOs, Rotary Clubs and the
US with the Haitian government. The DOC's Gold Key program
opened a segment of the market that we did not even
know existed," said Munsen. "It has helped
us find retailers that are interested in selling ovens.
From
left Paul Munsen, president of SUN OVENS International,
Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S House of Represenatives,
Mary Joyce, director of DOC's U.S. Export Assistance
Center in Chicago and Bernadine Smith, International
Trade Specialist, U.S. Commercial Service.
Click here to find out more about
SUN OVENS® in
Haiti.
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