U.S. expansion starts with understanding the market and building the right connections. That was the clear conclusion of the USA Experience Hub, a roundtable held on October 20 in Milan, hosted by Aice, the Italian Association of Foreign Trade, together with the U.S. Commercial Service. Group FiftyOne attended.

The program opened with remarks from the Commercial Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Milan and an introduction to SelectUSA, the federal program that helps foreign companies invest and grow in the United States. Experts on market strategy, state economic development and industrial site selection followed, alongside the experience of an Italian company that has already built a production plant in Alabama.

Three points stood out for Italian executives weighing their next step.

First, the United States is not one market. Each state brings its own incentives, labor conditions, industrial clusters and agencies. A location decision made on cost alone tends to be revisited later, at a higher price.

Second, sales come before structure. Companies that test demand, secure early customers and understand distribution before committing to a subsidiary or a plant enter with far less risk than those that build first and sell afterward.

Third, execution is local. Permits, construction, hiring and regulation are handled state by state and often county by county. Experienced partners on the ground are not a luxury at this stage; they are what keeps a project on schedule.

For most Italian companies, the practical sequence remains the same: validate the market, build relationships with American Buyers and distributors, then decide on structure and location with real commercial evidence in hand.

Group FiftyOne thanks Aice and the U.S. Commercial Service for bringing this community together. We look forward to continuing these conversations and to helping Italian businesses take their next steps into the U.S. market. For inquiries, contact info@groupfiftyone.com.

Reference