DULUTH - If you own a small- to medium-sized business, look overseas for a customer base. That's the message Sen. Amy Klobuchar gave Wednesday in her trip around the Northland - a message with local examples that prove the theory.

Many of cutting boards produced at the Duluth–based company Epicurean are bound for overseas customers - a market they first tapped five years ago with just two distributors in Europe. They've since expanded.

"Between Canada, Europe, Asia, South America, we export to 45 countries," says CFO Dave Benson.

Since going international in 2005, Epicurean's foreign market accounts for 40 percent of its sales. They've increased their workforce by about 10 people and now boast 40 employees.

"We used what resources were out there to us at the state and government level," says Benson.

Those resources are highlighted during Sen. Amy Klobuchar's trip to Cohasset, Duluth and Cloquet on Wednesday.

She brought representatives from agencies such as the U.S. Commercial Service, which provide a number of options, including the 'featured U.S. exporter' listing.

"Essentially, what a company would do, is provide their logo and a brief description of their company or product and then we would translate that and post it onto our Web site in that international market," says Amelia Geoppinger of the U.S. Commercial Service.

Klobuchar will be introducing a bill next session to increase staff at the U.S. Commercial Service to – ironically – capitalize on a the weak dollar.

"That's not always good," she said of the weak dollar. "But, its good for going to sell your products overseas."

And with 95 percent of consumers living outside the U.S., finding new buyers could provide substantial profits.

"There's a lot of business for us yet," says Benson.  "And we want to continue to develop and grow that market."