ITC Company Spotlight - LINK Electronics

Located in Branson, MO, LINK Electronics (LINK) was founded in 1989 by Bob Henson and Jim Timberlake to develop and distribute industry leading broadcast encoding solutions and services. Today, under the ownership and leadership of David Kendall, LINK leads the industry in broadcasting and encoding products.  The company takes pride in the 200+ products they currently produce in house, the new products in development and in the excellence and innovation delivered to customers.

In early 2020, and looking to the future, LINK Electronics partnered with the Trulaske College of Business International Trade Center to help evaluate international sales demand for its closed captioning product line so they would be better positioned to proactively guide sales expansion activities moving forward.

Five years after working with the ITC we are pleased to hear that the next steps and recommendations provided to LINK Electronics have served them well. 

In checking in recently with Tricia McRae, National Sales Manager, we directed a few questions her way linked to value gain and actions taken based on the ITC global market research completed.  Here’s what Tricia had to share…….

Was their value gained from the research completed?
“Absolutely, YES. The research helped us uncover global market opportunities we hadn’t previously considered specifically in regions like Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and the UAE. It gave us a clearer understanding of where demand for our captioning products exists internationally and what adjustments we needed to make to be competitive in those spaces.”

What key actions has LINK Electronics taken as a result of the research?
“The research directly influenced the direction of our product development. Since the study, we’ve updated and expanded our product line to better meet the language and regulatory needs of the international markets identified. For example, we added support for Arabic, Mandarin, and Hindi, which opened the door to new regions. We also made strategic shifts in how we market and position our solutions abroad, focusing on accessibility standards and regional compliance.”

What impact the company seen in its export activities?
”We’ve seen measurable growth in several markets, including new business in Canada, Mexico, and India. Additionally, we’ve strengthened our presence in South America through new channel partnerships resulting in around 15% year-over-year growth in that region since 2020. The insights provided by the research played a key role in shaping this international expansion and our continued success in global markets.”