Stage calls frequent for World Trade Conference winners

Eric Kunkel, CPA/ABV/CFF/CGMA, CVA, MBAFounding Partner, CCK Strategies, PLLC

Eric Kunkel and Sean Bauman were called to the stage several times during the Oklahoma World Trade Conference luncheon.

They didn’t mind the repeated trips. Both men represented companies recognized for their excellence in exporting.

Kunkel, founding partner of Tulsa’s CCK Strategies, and Bauman, president and CEO of IMMY from Norman, received the Oklahoma Export Champion Award and the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Exporting.

The awards were presented by Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge.

CCK Strategies was cited for their efforts to think through a problem and not settle for the textbook answer. The firm applied that process to their business culture and that of their clients, Benge said. They are intentional in their work and not reactive to situations.

It is because of their efforts and experiences in the company’s life cycle that exceptional value is brought to business owners who want guidance on maximizing hard work and investments.

CCK Strategies made its first export sale to Taiwan in 2009, Benge said. As a result, and with the assistance of the Commercial Service, CCK Strategies has been able to expand sales, the most recent to Russia and Oman.

Primary sport markets are in South America, Asia and Europe.

IMMY, founded in 1979, is a biotech company that is setting standards with accurate and affordable diagnostics for infectious diseases.

The company’s most successful product to date is the CrAg LFA, equipment that detects an infection that kills more than 600,000 people annually, Benge said, in reading the data sheet.

Most of the deaths from this disease are HIV/AIDS patients in the Sub-Sharan Africa. The equipment provides the only rapid test capable of bridging the gap between the disease and the life-saving medicine patients need.

IMMY made its first export sale to the United Kingdom in 1982.

Since that time, with the assistance of Commercial Service, they have expanded their sales with products going to more than 100 different countries.

Both received the Oklahoma Export Champion Award that was created by the Oklahoma District Export Council to recognize Oklahoma small and medium sized businesses that have entered the international marketplace.

This award emphasizes the importance that exporting plays in the U.S. economy and highlights contributions made by exporters to their local communities and the world.

Other companies receiving U.S. Department of Commerce Export Achievement Certificates included Da/Pro Rubber of Broken Arrow, and QB Johnson Manufacturing Inc. of Oklahoma City. Both firms also received the export champion award.