We began our day meeting with our host company, Hannover Impuls, in their offices. Dr. Hartmut Selle organized a meeting with three representatives of Janus Consulting, an group of graduate students looking to consult with companies that are interested in doing business in Germany. The rates are very favorable and we were impressed with their professionalism and savvy at an early age. For Fort Worth companies looking to come to Hannover, Janus could provide low-cost market feasibility studies.

Our next presenter was Dr. Hartmut Selle, our host for the trip. Dr Selle was the perfect German host — friendly, thoughtful, and very excited with the prospect of bilateral trade between Hannover and Fort Worth. Dr. Selle described how they would work with us, securing companies in the Hannover area interested in doing business with our companies back home. Their six target industries match up extremely well with our target industries.

Next we heard from Frank Steinlein whose company, Hannover IT, is an association of information technology companies ( some 1200 in the area) who have clustered together in an effort to strengthen themselves. Frank will be a great connection for our IT companies looking to expand into Germany. His English is very good, much like Dr. Selle’s. By the way, our hosts in the Hannover region are very adept at using PowerPoint and we must have been presented hundreds of slides in our time in Germany.

We left by cab with Ulrich, our other host, for a 40-minute drive to Northern Hannover to meet with Dr. Rob Smith, the head of the local TRW automotive manufacturing parts facility. Rob is also the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce and had joined us for dinner last night. We learned more about the engine valve manufacturing facility, had a brief tour inside, and discussed potential trading partners for TRW back in Texas.

Valves on the production line are red from the intense heat.

From TRW, we again rode in a cab to our next meeting at MC Technologies where we met with the Director of Sales, Christian Grieswelle as well as the company owner, Rolf Martens. MC has a variety of product lines centered around data transfer, remote sensing, and other new age capabilities. There might be some good opportunities for MC with some of our companies, specifically in the oil and gas industry.

Our 5:00 meeting was cancelled, probably because of the soccer game between Germany and Ghana, and after a very hectic pace for the last three days, David and I were pleased to hear it! We did a little shopping prior to our dinner with Tech Fort Worth’s Darlene Ryan. Again we went to Old Town and were able to enjoy the spirit and enthusiasm of the German people as they intensely and single-mindedly watched their soccer team play and ultimately defeat Ghana. German flags, jerseys, face painting, and other visible means of support were everywhere.

Part of our dinner conversation centered around our beliefs that a real opportunity exists from the Chamber membership standpoint and Darlene’s incubator to capitalize on this trade exchange opportunity. Conscious of our 6:10 am departure, we had to call it an early evening.  Auf Wiedersehen!

Today was another beautiful 72 degree day in Germany- take note: a HIGH of 72!  We are told that air conditioning isn’t needed here until late July – doors and windows are left open all the time as there are no insects around.

We started our day at Deutsche Messe, the management organization of the 11 million square feet convention center, which happens to be the world’s largest. We were told of opportunities for Fort Worth companies to exhibit at several large international fairs, including the industrial fair in April and the computer and information technology fair in March. Deutsche Messe told us that they could match international companies to our Texas companies with their software. This is something we might propose to interested Fort Worth import/export operations.

From there we went to the Hannover Chamber of Commerce and met with Beate Rausch, international director. By the way, joining the Hannover Chamber is mandatory for all businesses – we didn’t ask the cost but were told that their membership consists of over 140,000 members! They have 130 employees and own 5 buildings in a very nice part of Hannover. Beate said that the Hannover Chamber has relationships with New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, and most recently Houston.

Our hosts, Ulrich Hartmann and Hartmut Selle, informed us that the Chamber is highly regarded in Hannover and their endorsement of a project from public policy to general economic development can make or break a deal. The Hannover Chamber will be in Houston in early October; perhaps we will meet with them if they become further involved in the prospective trade mission.

From the Chamber, we left to meet with a state economic development entity called NGlobal. Here we learned more about the economic development status of the state and their desire for import/export opportunities for existing German operations. They used a very impressive touch TV and software system for the presentation – we were envious. If our budget situation improves greatly, we can get one of those. (David made me say that). An early observation is that the oil and gas sector in Hannover might have matching opportunities with Fort Worth and Texas-based oil and gas operations.

From there we met with three lawyers of Herfurf & Partners. This meeting helped familiarize us with the basic concepts of incorporating a business entity in Germany. The law firm will be a good contact for us to utilize and recommend for our companies that are interested in doing business in Hannover. Prior to our 6:30 dinner with the American Chamber of Commerce and other German businesses, we were indulged by our hosts Ulrich and Hartmut with 45 minutes of free time that we used to walk into a couple of German stores. It was a very busy day, but we learned a lot. We are being treated very well by our hosts and all those we meet. Oh, and one last-minute thought: you all might like to see a picture of the parade that David thinks was in his honor…

This morning we were joined by Darlene Ryan of Tech Fort Worth. Our first stop was City Hall where we met with the Deputy Mayor Hans Moenninghoff. City Hall is a beautiful, large public structure designed to impress and it certainly made an impression on us! Inside the main rotunda area are four scale models of the city: first, at the time it was founded; second, at the Middle Ages; third, immediately following WWII, which illustrated the bombing devastation; and last, the current city.

David and Melonye with our hosts, Ulrich Hartmann and Dr. Hartmut Selle.

Diorama of the city after WWII

We then had an introduction to Ustra, the public transportation system of Hannover. There is an extensive light rail system here – most people do not have cars and are able to get around quite well. We were allowed to see the control room complete with 50 or so viewing monitors illuminating the bus stops and highway system.

In the garage where the trains are repaired, David noticed that The Rolling Stones song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” was playing, reinforcing how small and interconnected this world is. The Ustra management shares best practices with New York City Public Transportation (NYTA), and they expressed interest to do the same with The T. We ate a traditional German meal called currywurst (sausage) and potatoes for lunch.

Next we visited Hannover Centre for Production Technology, an impressive, large, university-owned incubator for dozens of different types of start up businesses guided by professors and their students in an effort to grow their businesses from infancy.

Our last stop before dinner was with Laser Zentrum, a consortium of laser experts (mostly Ph.Ds) who consult with businesses (internationally and German) who wish to expand their footprint in the world of laser technology.  After the hour-long familiarization, we toured and inspected several actual laser stations.

David checking out the laser.

After the crazy, fast-paced cab ride, we had a 10 minute respite to change clothes for a dinner in Old Town Hannover. We tried the seasonal special, which is white asparagus, known as Spargel. The restaurant was in a busy location where we were able to observe German people walking around in a uniquely European environment.

David Berzina and Melonye Whitson left D/FW on Saturday at 2:45 pm and arrived in Frankfurt, Germany at 7:50 am on Sunday German time. We went through customs and walked quickly to the ICE train station. We made our 8:42 train with 2 seconds to spare (literally). The train reportedly goes up to 180 mph – we don’t know for sure, but it was fast! On the train ride we had a beautiful view of the rolling topography which was very green due to lots of rain. Ulrich Hartman, business consultant for Hannover and Lower Saxony, picked us up at the train station.

Our host, Ulrich Hartmann, picked us up at the Hannover train station.

We had lunch on a patio overlooking  the Hannover City Lake which is a man made lake constructed during WWII. We saw a “green” boat on the lake that runs totally on solar power.

The "green" boat

We then visited Herrenhauser Gardens which is among the most beautiful Baroque gardens in Germany. (Picture Versailles in your head.) It is a botanical garden with fountains, mazes, and sculptures.

It was a nice afternoon and our one day to sight see and adjust to the time change. Before we said goodbye to Ulrich for the evening, we huddled together in the hotel lobby to go over our agenda for tomorrow with government officials and business executives.