My wife Rita and I spent the better part of the Christmas/New Year holidays in Chile this year. Although most of our time was spent visiting with her family (she’s Chilean), I did manage to squeeze in a few business meetings. These included visits with the CEO of a mid-sized Spanish-owned conglomerate, and two of its holdings, one a metal plating and repair business that serves the mining and hydroelectric businesses throughout South America, and the other, an integrated fruit grower, processor and exporter. In the course of these meetings and throughout my travels in and around Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina Del Mar and Temuco, I learned a lot.

Geographically, Chile’s territory stretches a length that is about twice as long and about half as wide as the US state of California, with a population about three-fourths the size of California. And the economy in Chile today is booming, largely driven by growing global demand for its wines and produce, as well as by the growing dem