OUT OF WORK AT MID-LIFE AND BACK IN A CLASSROOM

By Jerry Taylor, Globe Staff

SUNDAY, January 22, 1995

LEXINGTON -- The focus in a first-of-its-kind class at Minuteman Science- Technology High School for unemployed middle managers is exports.

Susan Joyce of Northborough has zeroed in on selling chocolate chip cookies in Britain, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Don Andrews of Shirley is excited about selling modems and flat panel displays in Malaysia. Enrique Trincado of Acton discerns a market for fingerprint computer hardware and software with police forces south of the border. Frank Geraci of Needham anticipates profits from shipping medical devices to Italy.

They and four other classmates are completing a free course on free- lance opportunities in the import-export field made possible by a $75,000 one-year grant from the US Labor Department. Since late September the students have spent six hours a day, five days a week learning from experts, field trips and their own research how to negotiate the waters of international commerce, how to identify which products from overseas might gain a niche here and what American goods would meet demands abroad.

''The class has been more interested in exporting rather than importing,'' Herbert Radford, coordinator of the training program, said in his office in the Energy House at Minuteman, the regional technical school and adult career center. Radford, 44, of Westwood, is himself a casualty of corporate restructuring, having lost his job with W.R. Grace Co., where he opened markets for its medical servies and products in Mexico and South America.

''The misconceptions are that it's overly complex, overly bureaucratic, that only big companies like Boeing and Digital can take advantage of these opportunities,'' Radford said. ''Another is that you have to be fluent in a foreign language. That helps, but English is the universal business language. A major myth is that getting into the import-export field requires an enormous amount of capital.''

Radford, Minuteman Tech and the eight middle-aged students pursuing new careers have invited business owners and managers interested in expanding overseas markets to an open house Feb. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Energy House, beside the visitors' parking lot at the school on Marrett Road (Route 2A), between Route 128 and Hanscom Field. Radford said he has received 300 inquiries and 60 applications for 12 seats for the next class, which begins Feb. 13.

Beverly Lydiard, assistant superintendent of Minuteman, said the course was Minuteman's response to a suggestion by Linda Vine, executive director of the Lexington Council on Aging, that laid-off professionals needed help in putting their abilities to use.

Joyce, in her 40s, and Andrews, 51, are alumni of Digital Equipment Corp., she was a negotiator of contracts with government agencies and he was a specialist in telecommunications and information syhstems. Trincado, 58, is a metallurgist formerly with Nuclear Metals Inc. of West Concord. Geraci, 66, is a retired contract administrator with GTE.

Among the other students are George Cormier, 63, of Stow, formerly with GTE, Charles Harvey of Westford, in his 50s, formerly with Westinghouse, and Denise Gagnon of Somerville, in her 40s, formerly with Texas Instruments and Bull Information Systems.

''I'm really excited,'' said Gagnon, who holds a master's in business administration from the University of Rhode Island. ''My focus is to get my license to become a customs broker, an agent on behalf of an importer and the federal government. You collect tariff or taxes for goods and explain federal regulations to importers. All customs brokerages in the port of Boston must have a licensed broker on board.''

Andrews said his Air Force tour in Japan during the 1960s helped him appreciate Malaysia, which he calls ''one of the fastest growing economies in the Pacific Rim.''

''Eighty-five percent of all manufacturers in New England don't export,'' said Andrews, who with his wife, Janine, has formed J&D Enterprises. ''There's tremendous potential to represent them in overseas markets. They don't have the skills or the information neccessary to start exporting. The domestic market is doing well, so they stay home. It's comfortable. But the international market is the key to long-term success.''

Cormier has explored exporting bicycles or bike frames to police forces and mail carriers in Africa, among other prospects. Harvey has hopes of playing a part in ''regaining the market in computer-controlled machine tools we lost in the 1960s and '70s.''

Geraci settled on medical equipment and devices ''because they have universal application'' and on Italy ''because I can make myself understood there.''

''I'm promoting a hand-held cardiac monitor, the manufacturer of which has authorized me to pursue contacts in Italy,'' he said.

Trincado, a native Chilean, said he intends to ''export to Latin America to take advantage of my Spanish.'' In addition to fingerprint technology, he said he sees prospects in armor plate for small tanks as well as ambulances and medical devices. ''I'm considering forming a partnership with other students in the class,'' he said.

Joyce, in her 40s, believes American popcorn would also sell in Britain, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

''You can do this for a low-cost entry,'' she said. ''Direct mail is particularly effective because these countries have good postal systems. You can buy mailings lists, develop catalogs or brochures in the lingo of that country, price your goods appropriately and depend on credit card sales. When you sit in this class and get exposed to all the information, the number of opportunities, it's almost overwhelming.''

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