Breakfast Briefing with US Commercial Service

Brad Harker is a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Foreign Commercial Service. He is currently serving as the Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, China. In this position, Brad and his team assist U.S. companies to develop their international sales, marketing, and trade efforts in Hong Kong and Macao. From 2014-2018, Brad was the Commercial Officer Team Leader for the aviation, rail, energy and environment sectors at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China. From 2010-2013, Brad served as the Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia with additional responsibilities in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro. From 2006-2010, Brad was the Principle Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan where he was responsible for supporting U.S. Commercial interests in Western Japan. Brad’s first posting was in Athens, Greece from 2001-2004. Brad joined the Commercial Service in November of 2000 after working as the International Sales Manager for Winnemucca Farms, a large food ingredients company located in northern Nevada. At Winnemucca Farms, Brad oversaw the company’s international export business in Japan, South America and Europe. From 1997 to 2000, Brad was an International Trade Specialist for the State of Nevada’s Commission on Economic Development. Brad is fluent in Chinese, Japanese and Greek and participated in the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program from 1994-1996 as an Assistant Language Instructor (ALT). Following JET, Brad worked in the import/export divisions of two Japanese multinational corporations, T-One Inc., a manufacturer of sports clothing, and Panasonic Avionics Systems, a manufacturer of in-flight entertainment systems for commercial aircraft. Brad is a native of northern Nevada has a Bachelors degree in Marketing from the University of Nevada-Reno (1993) and an MBA from the College of William and Mary, Raymond A Mason School of Business (2018). Brad is married with two children and enjoys skiing and hiking in his spare time.