On August 14, 2000 fifteen construction managers and one government official from Ukraine in the former Soviet Union will arrive in the U.S. For the next 3 weeks they will visit companies in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Minnesota. The delegation members, all from Kharkiv, Ukraine, are here as part of a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program to learn first-hand how to operate and compete in a market economy. Jim Titus and Tom Dunn, Tour Managers for the Center for Economic Initiatives said, "This program presents a perfect opportunity for the Ukrainians to learn how to apply the most modern technology and management techniques to improve the cost effectiveness of their operations. Building techniques in the U.S. are based on the latest technology and provide energy efficient buildings which are much needed in Ukraine where the cost of energy is prohibitively high. This tour affords the Ukrainians an opportunity to learn how technology can help reduce costs and improve the standard of living of their population."

This will be the fourth of five tours this year conducted by the Center for Economic Initiatives (CEI). The impact of the tours has been significant on the Ukrainian business community. One high level Kharkiv government official told CEI that 60% of the firms who have participated in the study tours have doubled their efficiency.

Ukraine has always had a command economy. Under the Tsar and then the Soviet Union businesses were told what to produce and how much to produce. In 1991 it gained its independence but the economy has not prospered under its new democratic government. That’s where CEI and USAID have partnered to help. In a training program patterned after the Marshall Plan, industry leaders are being brought to the U.S. to learn first hand about technology and productivity and how to compete in a market economy. U.S. host companies show how to use technology, but more importantly they provide an opportunity to learn how management functions and to get questions answered on key strategy questions which can be taken back to Ukraine and put to immediate use.

This Marketing, Technology, and Management Study Tour was arranged by the Center for Economic Initiatives, a non-profit organization headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. CEI has worked closely with USAID and the World Bank to train business executives from several former Soviet Union countries.