Vision - May/June 2008 - (Page 12)

jobs. Many of the factories that people say are standing vacant are really just old relics, no different than the pyramids and the Mayan relics. People don’t live in pyramids. People don’t work in these old factories because they are working at other sites utilizing technology and automation that the old factories didn’t have. We need to take the quality of life and our products globally, we have to do international trade, and we have to be respectful of people and their way of life and embrace them as global partners. In Vietnam in 1969, Ho Chi Minh Trail was a bad place. Now when we go to Hanoi, we have friends there, we have trading partners, we have factories and we don’t go there with napalm and M16s. Stats Founded Mitek: 1968, privately held Headquarters: phoenix, aZ Business Model: design, manufacture and distribute high-definition audio products Employees: 2,500 worldwide Philanthropy: american cancer Society, united Way, Boy Scouts of america, World Wildlife foundation, nSca education foundation, Solid rock foundation, nStep inner city , reconstruction group Honors: entrepreneur of the Year, Inc. Magazine; ernst & Young/Merrill Lynch, 1990; Dealerscope Magazine’s hall of fame, 1997; Judge for Students in free enterprise (Sife), 1998; Business Leader of the Year, Rockford Magazine, 1991; arizona’s top 100 privately held companies, 1990–2007, inc500—1991–1997 Associations: • Immediate CEA Past Chair, 2007–2008 • Chair, CEA, Executive Board, 2005–2006 • Vice Chair, CEA Executive Board, 2003–2004 • Co-vice Chair, CEA Executive Board, 2001–2002 • Champion, Mobile Electronics certification program (Mecp), 2000 • Chair, Mobile Electronics Division of ceMa, 1999–2000 • President, American Loudspeaker Manufacturers association (aLMa), 1986–1988 Motto: team one, one team Website: www.mitekcorp.com a trade agreement with Columbia when they have favored nation status and they can ship in here free and the tariff going in there is 15 to 20 percent. And we are fighting a trade agreement? What is the objection to that? The objection is that unions in this country and Democrats want to set rules and regulations on overtime and hours worked and local benefit programs and they expect Columbia to live by our rules. If Columbia does not establish exactly the same rules and benefit programs as the unions and the Democrats expect, then they are going to block the fair trade agreement. It’s political not economic. Our politicians want to bully countries, and that’s a barrier for entrepreneurs to do business. When we do business, that raises the living standard in that country, but we have politicians trying to build trade barriers and it hurts the United States. When you build trade barriers—geo-economicpolitical trade fences—you actually kill jobs on both sides of the fence. When Vietnam opened up to technology, we became trading partners. They are not enemies anymore. I have great Vietnamese friends. Today Vietnam produces incredibly good products. Make trade, not war? Exactly. Back in 1969, the slogan was Make Love, Not War. In 2008, it’s Make Business, Not War. I hosted a dinner recently in Germany and I had seated at one table a group from Iraq, Iran and Israel. They all had a great time as they talked about how to better sell Mitek products throughout their regions. The gentleman from Iraq said, “Put an American Flag on the MTX boxes and they will sell great in my country.” I find it interesting that every country lays down their RPGs when we talk about free trade. The reason why I’m such a proponent of fair trade is because it makes the world a better and safer place. Countries that have free trade and open communications grow by leaps and bounds. Do you have global partnerships? We have operations throughout the world— Mitek Europe, Mitek Canada, Mitek Asia, Mitek Thailand and Mitek Puerto Rico are all partnerships. I surround myself with good global partners. Is it also similar with China? Absolutely. Trade helps with China, it helps with India, it helps with Pakistan and it helps with Russia. There are tremendous opportunities all over the world. Even today, we sell car stereo speakers in Iran and Iraq. Even with this horrible war going on, we still have car audio dealers in Iraq. I remember in 1980, I was in Berlin and I helped tear down the wall at Check Point Charlie. The night we tore down the wall, I went into East Germany. Everything was grey, dingy and dirty under the Communist rule. If you go there today, it is a beautiful, colorful place. And when walls were put up in China, it caused the Cultural Revolution and they blocked out all Western Civilization—it was horrible for the country. Shanghai used to be Paris of the East. Then it was a horrible city, but now it’s back to being one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and that’s all because of trade. Why do you work so hard for free trade? Because I feel that I am a true American entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs have a common desire to leave the world a better place than it was when we came. One way to accomplish this is through open communications and treating everyone with dignity and respect. America cannot bully the world into accepting its values and philosophies, and disregard another country’s historical cultures. Free trade and open communications tear down the walls and level the playing field for the global family. If I can help accomplish this in my lifetime, I will feel that I have made the world a better and safer place for future generations. • www.ce.org How does the supply chain work for your business? We should have fair trade and the tariffs should be exactly the same going both directions. At CEA’s Washington Forum in April, one of the speakers mentioned that for Caterpillar, each truck that went into Columbia had a $200,000 tariff on it. But everything from Columbia coming into the United States was free because they are a favored nation. So we are worried about 12 May/June 2008 http://www.mitekcorp.com http://www.ce.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Vision - May/June 2008

Vision - May/June 2008 Contents Shapiro's Spectrum In This Issue The Economist C4 Trends Visionary Making the Smartphone Truly Intelligent Shipping Strategies for CE Companies IP in BRIC Countries CEA Newsline Tech Speak Eye on Business Tech Policy Market Insider Just the Stats

Vision - May/June 2008

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