SAF is Semi-Finalist in Export Challenge
They receive a $5,000 grant as one of five continuous coil anodizers in North America.
Posted: February 5, 2016
Southern Aluminum Finishing Company (SAF; Atlanta, GA) is a recipient of a $5,000 grant and a semi-finalist in the inaugural Atlanta Metro Export Challenge, a grant competition powered by Chase which boosts support for small and medium-sized businesses looking to begin exporting or to increase their export programs. A total of 35 companies from metro Atlanta were selected as semi-finalists and will each receive a reimbursement grant of up to $5,000 to apply toward expenses related to building export capacity and activities.
SAF won the grant based on several criteria, chiefly because they are one of five continuous coil anodizers in North America. Global demand for a cost-effective alternative for large project aluminum sheet sales drives orders for continuous coil anodizing. Additionally, SAF scored points because of its pro-active international efforts to expand its distribution of anodized aluminum sheet, aluminum extrusions, and fabricated painted and anodized aluminum cladding for the commercial construction industry.
“We don’t know of any other company in the world who can custom anodize extrusions in 24 hours to meet the time constraints of the commercial glass industry. With projects in Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico and currently Dubai this grant and the prospect of future awards will help us expand our international efforts,” according to Penn McClatchey, the co-chief executive officer of SAF.
SAF will have a chance to win additional prize money later this summer. The semi-finalists must share their export success during the first half of 2016 and future plans for export development for a chance to win additional prize money. Afterwards the top three companies will receive $20,000 (first place), $10,000 (second place), and $5,000 (third place). This competition is one of the key components of the Atlanta Metro Export Plan (MEP), an initiative launched in June 2015 to stimulate economic growth in the region and create quality jobs through exports. The grants competition aims to encourage area companies to export and drive business growth by increasing international sales of local products and services.
With 95 percent of the world’s consumers located outside the U. S., the potential for growing exports is tremendous.
The Atlanta MEP is being implemented by multiple organizations, including the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the City of Atlanta working in partnership with several other regional and local economic development agencies, public and private organizations. The MEP is the first phase of Atlanta’s participation in the Global Cities Initiative (“GCI”), a joint project of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase that aims to help leaders in U.S. metropolitan areas reorient their economics toward greater engagement in world markets.
As a mill-direct aluminum buyer, an approved fabricator for the major Aluminum Composite Panel (ACM) manufacturers, and a mill-direct buyer of aluminum coil and extrusions, SAF is a contractor’s most dependable resource for aluminum, panel and column systems. Based in Atlanta since 1946, the company is a nation-wide aluminum sheet and extrusion distributor, aluminum fabricator, and aluminum finisher specializing in Kynar painting and architectural anodizing. SAF Services include aluminum batch anodizing, painting, coil anodizing, powder coating and architectural fabrication.
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