CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Representatives with a Putnam County business plan to visit the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. within the next couple of weeks to follow-up on potential trade opportunities discovered during a recent trip to Cuba.
John Dill, vice president of Multicoat, reported being “cautiously optimistic” after the trip with Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, West Virginia Development Office officials and those representing Pilgrim’s Pride and Industrial Bolting.
Dill said he went to Cuba earlier this month with zero expectations.
“Had we had expectations, the trip would have far exceeded it,” he said. “There’s definitely a market there for companies like us and the people of Cuba were actually very receptive to the American business people that were traveling.”
One of the products Multicoat manufactures is a roll-on liquid material, designed for concrete roofs, that dries to a rubber membrane.
“The products that they’re currently using, they’re getting them from Europe. It’s extremely costly, with the exchange rate of the dollar, plus the transportation costs to get there,” he explained.
Dill said Multicoat makes better, “more cost-effective” products.
There are pending questions about the process of exporting into Cuba as the country’s relations with the U.S. continue to normalize. Those selling products to Cuba currently sell to the Cuban government which then distributes the materials to Cuban companies.
If those hurdles can be cleared, Dill said Cuba could be a “game-changer” for Multicoat.
“We’re willing to try it,” he said earlier this week on MetroNews “Talkline.” “We may run into a stone wall, but we’re certainly going to make a good stab at it.”
Multicoat has operated in West Virginia since the mid-1980s. Last year, the company opened an expanded site in Winfield, allowing the products the company sells to manufactured under the same roof.
Dill said his company started exporting products within the past several years and, thus far, export locations include Barbabos, Antigua and Romania.
In 2015, West Virginia businesses overall exported $5.8 billion worth of goods and services to more than 141 countries, according to the state Department of Commerce.