Stacy Timperley is a small-town Iowan who didn’t grow up on a farm, but now can tell you plenty about heavy agricultural equipment. Her job is to make it easier for Iowa companies to export heavy machinery around the world. She works in a two-person office in the Ruan Center. She traveled to Brazil recently on an Iowa Farm Bureau Federation trip. She joined Forbs Expert Services LLC in November. 

From her base in the Ruan Center, Timperley works in an Iowa export industry that has been on the rise. The state has been a power in grain exports for decades, but Forbs is focusing on the equipment behind some of that agriculture.

A “recovering introvert” who is easygoing but driven, Timperley works to smooth out the rough spots that can come in trying to navigate international shipping regulations. The job is a long way from fixing the pinsetters at her hometown bowling alley as a child.

We sat down with Timperley to learn what’s new in the world of exports.

What do you do?
I handle all the documentation. Our goal is to help small and medium-size companies export their equipment, so we meet with them and we figure out their needs and how to address their issues with exporting. We do everything from government financing to their documentation to regulations. We just try to help them make it a little easier, and take their hand and guide them through the international process.

Are you a consultant then?
Yes. It can be intimidating if you don’t know what you’re doing. But I’ve been exporting for 10 years. The experience we have we want to give to small and medium-size companies across Iowa. Many of them don’t know there are services like us. The government promotes exporting, but they don’t give you the step-by-step information on how to do it. We’re that extra resource to serve them. Some don’t export because they don’t know how to do it.

Are many of them new to exporting?
Maybe have done a few deals, but they don’t have the time or expertise to know what they are doing, or they’ve had some complications. If they do have an export department, we can go in and help train their people to keep the jobs in the smaller communities. We can act as a consultant-trainer, or we can actually take their paperwork and do it for them. We just want to connect them to their network.

Is it difficult to keep up with varying regulations from country to country?
We have to pay attention to the regulations in each country. We have those reports, so we can look them up if you are going to Brazil, or if you are going to South Africa. Those regulations will determine who your partners are. We do have some conflicts with Russia, so we need to pay attention to where you can ship products and where you cannot. There are a lot of compliance issues.

What other complications do you run into?
Look at the port congestion from the West Coast. That also is tricking down, and Canada is refusing our goods. Now I have just heard there are going to be rail strikes slowing down the rail transportation. All these moving parts, they lean on each other and determine how you do things. We can direct goods around these issues and help the customers avoid these problems.

Have you ever had a shipment get overseas, and it couldn’t get into the country?
Yes. There are the issues where they will require certain documents. It happens in importing as well. You’ll get that X-ray fee, or they’ll want to look at what is inside the container. Or it could be a flag on your documents not saying the correct thing. Or it’s the random count. They aren’t going to show you their cards on why they want to look at that container. But when they ask you that information, all you have to do is pull that file and give them what they are asking for to clear it and move on. As long as you are prepared, those hiccups don’t affect the overall process.

What is your specialty?
We really go after the large equipment. Iowa has beautiful products to offer. There is paving equipment, there are sprayers, there are fertilizer carts. We like to put them in full container loads so it is just their product and ship them to their destinations. That include the Phillipines, South Africa, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil. We go worldwide. We focus on Iowa companies, particularly those that are manufactured here.

Do you actively seek new clients at shows, etc.?
This is our third year in business. We get our steel-toed boots on and we go into the field. This dress I’m wearing today is not our normal attire. I put on my jeans and steel-toed boots and we walk into the fields and find those customers. We go to the Farm Progress Show every cycle it comes to Boone. We will be going to the Iowa Power Farming Show. If we find a lead, we will go to their factory in northwest Iowa. We don’t stay in Des Moines. 

Do you consider yourself a force in economic development, in addition to helping clients with specific exports?
We are trying. We want to keep that revenue in Iowa, and those jobs. We are a growing company. We are looking to hire more people. We are looking to expand our reach. We want people to understand we aren’t just in Des Moines. We want to help these small communities survive. Coming from small-town Iowa, I know what it is like to want to get out of a small town when you are young. But now that I am 10 years older, I appreciate what a small town has to offer. 

How did you get interested in machinery?
My family owned a bowling alley down in Leon. I had an entreprenuer experience working in the back of the bowling alley. That’s why I love equipment — I was fixing the pinsetters in the back of the bowling alley and stuff like that. That was my job. My sisters were in the kitchen. My friend raised beef cattle and I was always out on the farm. I didn’t grow up on a farm, but I grew up in a rural community and the co-op was right down the street.

What do you like to do when you’re off work? 
I have an 18-month-old daughter that takes a lot of my time. We take walks and enjoy activities around Des Moines. I also enjoy golf and bowling. I love my athletics. I’m a (Kansas City) Chiefs fan. I’m a glutton for punishment because I am also a Chicago Cubs fan. I teach water aerobics. I’ve lost 70 pounds already, so the healthy lifestyle is something I’m interested in as well, I am a horrible bowler. We owned a bowling alley but I never bowled, because I was always in the back fixing things. But my family and I are going to the national bowling championships in El Paso in June. It’s kind of one of our last gung-ho family trips together. There are 12 of us. We all had to join a league. It’s a family of good athletes. My dad has like a 200 average, and my brother is up there. I am the comedy relief at about 120, but we have fun.