President & Founder Bio

Laura M. Spingola is the founder and President of Trade Resources Ltd., a Chicago-based international market development company that provides international management, marketing, training and reporting services for business.

Ms. Spingola has conducted business in Asia, Europe and the Americas for trade and investment. Ms. Spingola integrates experience in international business and marketing, economic development, real estate, finance and consumer marketing. She has provided international services to industry and trade associations (including the International Housewares Association and Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers), economic development organizations, universities and companies of all sizes for twenty-five years. She has lectured and written reports that have been published internationally. She has designed and led full-scale participations in trade shows nationally and internationally. In addition Ms. Spingola is an Adjunct Professor of International Management at Loyola University Chicago and an instructor of International Trade Research in the FITT Certified International Trade Professional program. Previously she was an Adjunct Professor at National Louis University and Mundelein College in Chicago, and served as Assistant Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Economic Development.

An experienced trader of foreign currencies, agricultural commodities and precious metals, Ms. Spingola grasped global business early through world travel, marketing Chicago for foreign investment, and on the floor of Chicago's futures exchanges. Now she creates innovative services and data reports for global business development. Ms. Spingola has received numerous economic forecasting and marketing awards and training citations. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago highlighted her research on the topic: International Trade: Winners and Losers at its Seventeenth Annual Economic Outlook Symposium.

In previous assignments, she coordinated a national award-winning advertising campaign for the attraction and retention of business in the Chicago metropolitan area. A targeted industry approach was designed to complement the campaign. A high degree of government and business collaboration was solicited and achieved in all economic development programs. She also directed consumer research that focused on pricing analysis and product quality assessments of foods, energy, toys and other consumer products. Her research was widely reported and utilized by consumers, industry participants, trade organizations and economic advisers.

Ms. Spingola recently completed the third edition of the Business Guide to the United States Home and Housewares Market in two parts. This is part of her firm's responsiveness in helping businesses to better understand their global market potential.

Ms. Spingola holds a BS degree in Marketing with a minor in Urban Studies from Indiana University where she studied under Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom, and has an MBA in International Management from Loyola University Chicago.

She has completed other postgraduate work through Northwestern University (real estate), the University of Chicago, the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (futures trading). She is a member of the Industrial Roundtable of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Chicago Council on Global Affairs and is on the Board of Directors of the Canada-U.S. Business Council Chicago (www.cusbc.org) and Chicago Chamber Music Society (www.chicagochambermusicsociety.org).

Ms. Spingola can be reached at:
TRADE RESOURCES Ltd.
323 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 444
Chicago, IL 60611
Tel/ 312.939.5030
Email/ LSpingola@TradeResources.com
Web: www.TradeResources.com