A conversation with John Schott

John Schott is Kansas Global Trade Services’ new senior director of export programs.

His job is to execute a one-year $250,000 contract from the Kansas Department of Commerce to help Kansas companies increase exports and promote the importance of exports to the state.

To that end, Schott, 57, will host regional meetings around Kansas.

Schott, the son of missionaries, grew up in the Philippines, where his interest in international relations began.

He moved to the U.S. at 16.

After high school in Springfield, Mo., Schott attended Baptist Bible College, but decided the ministry wasn’t his calling.

In 1980, he married his wife, Pam, and moved to California, where he joined Pacific Bell, now AT&T, and rose to a mid-management position in marketing.

In 1995, the family moved to Anthony, where his parents grew up.

On a trip there, Schott stopped in at the newspaper office and learned that the town’s hardware store was for sale.

After a lot of research, he bought the store.

“It wasn’t doing real well,” Schott said. “The books were terrible. But I talked to folks in town, and they said, there’s a lot of opportunity here.”

He grew the business and owned it for two decades.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said.

Schott also has served as the mayor of Anthony, as a founding board member of the Harper County Economic Development Council, on the Anthony 9-11 Memorial Committee and as president of the Anthony Chamber of Commerce.

“That might have something to do with my background as a missionary kid,” he said. “It all boils down to taking care of people and caring for others.”

Schott and his family moved to Wichita in 2011 and sold the hardware store the following year.

In December, he graduated from Fort Hays State University with a major in business management and a minor in global competencies.

His connection with Kansas Global Trade Services was formed through his studies; he took part in an independent study program supporting export outreach.

Since then, he’s had been volunteering two days a week at the organization, helping with a program that facilitates partnerships between Wichita’s aviation industry and interested parties in China.

“One of my life goals was to get my degree,” Schott said. “It took a while..... (But) if you want something ... you just keep plugging away at it.”

In his spare time, he likes to travel, read, watch movies and spend time with his family. He and his wife have two children, Ashley and Joseph.

Your interest in international relations began as a child in Davao, the Philippines third largest city, when your house backed up to the home of the Philippine’s president. What happened?

His son and I used to play all the time. One night, Mom and Dad couldn’t find me. They were calling my name and calling my name. Finally, they heard my little voice say, “Here I am.” They looked over the fence, and there I was sitting on the president’s lap with my buddy on the other knee.

What will you be doing in your role promoting exports?

We’re going to be going out and holding six regional meetings with economic development people and community leaders to promote exports to find out which of their companies have the potential to either start exporting or grow their exports.

And then what will happen?

Then we’re going out and meet with them — there’s a minimum threshold of 100 businesses by the end of June — and talk to them about their export needs and how we can help them grow. ... We will hit every area of the state.

What is the biggest challenge for a business that has never done exports?

We’re finding, No. 1, there’s a lot of us service providers ... in the government and in the private area that are tasked with helping exports, helping promote exports and understanding (how to go about it.) The problem is, businesses don’t know who and how to get to them.

Second?

No. 2 is the paperwork and the logistical problems of transportation or licensing or regulations on what is allowed to be exported and what is not. It’s not an easy thing. On the other side of it, in the foreign country, there’s a set of rules and there’s a set of guidelines and whether or not they have an official distribution system and trying to get to their customers. It’s a challenge.

How do you help?

One of the ways I feel I’ll be able to help on that is I understand business. I know the ins and outs of how it is to deal with paperwork, to deal with government agencies, to deal with trying to get something from Point A to Point B. ... I also understand the international part of it from life experience and the team here has a whole lot of knowledge and expertise in compliance and that sort of thing. Our partners in the Department of Commerce have a wealth of knowledge.”

You volunteered with Kansas Global before taking this job. What did you do?

Part of my project in the volunteer time I had was getting out and talking to some companies ... about what we can do here to help them.

Besides growing up in the Philippines, you also got interested in exports and international business through a class called Seven Revolutions. What was that?

(It) talked about the world and the main areas of change that were going to be occurring over the next five or 10 years. One of the biggies was the middle class growing and the need for clean water and all of tha. t... But the middle class growing (is big) because when your middle class grows in an emerging market, there’s a demand for things that middle class people have. So there’s that market that needs to be filled. We can fill it, and there’s no reason why we don’t fill it.

What do you like best about the job?

It’s just so fun sitting down and talking to people and uncovering opportunities and being able to connect the dots and to bring people together.

What’s your biggest advice to companies, including those interested in exporting or growing exports?

Don’t be afraid of something that you’ve never done before. ... Don‘t be afraid to go for it.

This story was originally published August 29, 2014 at 3:02 PM with the headline "A conversation with John Schott."