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BY PRISCILLA GREEAR
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--Rachel Bailey, an international trade specialist with the U.S.
Department of Commerce, is a guiding light for exporters as she counsels them
through the complex world of international trade regulations and barriers.
A parishioner at St. Anthony’s Church in Atlanta, Bailey, 74, works at
Atlanta’s U.S. Export Assistance Center, one of the model centers for the
nation. Here, exporters receive assistance and information from nine separate
agencies including the DOC, the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and
Tourism, the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Export-Import Bank. A
trade specialist since 1977, she also assists in implementing the
department’s trade development programs to promote U.S. exports, and
develops and disseminates trade information to American businesses and
associations. She also counsels clients on market targeting.
In recognition of her success in international trade and for her
contribution as a role model for women in the field, the Atlanta Women in
International Trade on April 28 named Bailey as Atlanta’s International
Woman of the Year for 1999 at its annual Founder’s Dinner. Also in
recognition of her work, Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell and the Fulton County
Board of Commissioners named that day as “Rachel M. Bailey Day” in
Atlanta and Fulton County.
AWIT, organized in 1989, is a chapter of the Organization of Women in
International Trade of Washington, D.C., an international association with 28
chapters across the United States and abroad, with the mission of enhancing the
careers of international trade professionals. The March 1999 issue of
Working Woman named it one of the three most outstanding international
networking groups for executive women with global careers.
Bailey was deeply honored to receive the award.
“I just felt overwhelmed. I just never anticipated anything like that.
I didn’t think about it,” she said, with her amiable demeanor.
“Of course I enjoyed it very much. I don’t think I got down back to
earth from cloud nine for awhile.”
Recognized nationally as well, Bailey headed up to Washington, D.C., for the
April 6 Commerce Department Awards program where Secretary of Commerce William
Daley presented her with a 56-year recognition award for her continued
outstanding service to the government. She was also honored in 1993 by the late
Secretary of Commerce Rob Brown and presented with a letter of commendation
from President Clinton. In 1974 she was awarded the DOC Bronze Medal for
outstanding and dedicated service to the business community in Atlanta over a
long time period.
Fresh out of business college, an 18-year-old Bailey began her career in
1943 during World War II as a typist with the War Production Board. She recalls
how, on her first day working and not understanding carbon paper, her first
copies were neatly typed on the backs of the originals. She also fondly recalls
facing the challenges of using mimeograph machines and manual typewriters,
where the strength with which one pressed the keys determined the darkness of
the letters. Her starting salary, she added, was just over $1,000 a year.
She eventually moved to the Reconstruction Finance Corp. in 1946. Through
the Upward Mobility program, she rose from a trade assistant to trade
specialist at the DOC.
In an interview May 20 following a World Trade Day luncheon, Bailey said she
is particularly interested in export licensing, determining whether shipments
need export licenses or can be sent under license exceptions, and researching
export administration regulations for clients. She often helps firms who want
to expand their markets into new countries or ones that want to begin exporting
for the first time. And, as a Catholic, she is rewarded with the satisfaction
of serving others.
“Frequently people say that I have been helpful to them. I sometimes
think of myself as Rachel ‘Helpful’ Bailey. That gives me a feeling
of satisfaction of trying to help people get an answer to their need in order
to be able to solve a business problem,” she said.
With typewriter and mimeograph memories, Bailey said her biggest challenge
is learning new software programs. Yet she happily continues working into her
70s, saying that “as long as my health holds out and they want me,
I’d like to stay.”
A graduate of St. Anthony’s School and Sacred Heart High School in
Atlanta, and an over 65-year member of St. Anthony’s Church, Bailey is as
faithful and dedicated to her parish as she is to explaining commerce
regulations. She is rectress of the Marist Laity, an usher, participates in
outreach and shut-in ministries and the ladies auxiliary. She is also on the
parish core committee for RENEW 2000.
“I hope that I’m always able to be a member of St. Anthony’s.
It wouldn’t seem like going to church if it wasn’t at St.
Anthony’s.”
AWIT’s past president and board member, attorney Deborah Temples, said
that Bailey should have received the AWIT award years ago.
“She has such a stellar reputation with the Atlanta business community.
Over the years she just has been a person that people could rely on when they
needed to understand the complex regulations of commerce,” she said.
Bailey is always looking for the opportunity to learn more and “she is
absolutely willing to share her expertise with others.”
“I know several of her business clients came to the dinner when they
heard that she was being honored,” Temples added.
In a recent article in InterTrade & Investment, Lynne Wendt, an
attorney and AWIT board member, said, “Rachel has excelled in her role of
supporting the international trade community with export assistance. She has
been both teacher and adviser to so many of us in Georgia and the Southeast in
interpreting the often complex and confusing Bureau of Export Administration
regulations. I know there are hundreds of individuals and companies who have
benefited from her advice over the years who would enjoy congratulating her
personally on the award.”
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