What does Crown Equipment Corp. have in common with Marriott International, Deloitte & Touche, Sybase, Eastman Chemical Co., and J.M. Smucker Co.? All of those companies are represented on the president's Export Council. Last fall, President George W. Bush appointed James F. Dicke II, chairman and CEO of Crown Equipment Corp., as a private-sector member of the joint government/industry group, which advises the president on export matters and encourages U.S. companies to export.

Dicke should know a thing or two about exporting. Along with plants in three U.S. states, Crown Equipment Corp. owns and operates manufacturing facilities in Australia, Germany and Mexico and is expanding into China. Under Dicke's direction, Crown, a privately held company, has grown into one of the largest lift-truck manufacturers in the world. Founded in 1945 by the Dicke family, Crown today employs more than 7,300 people with revenues in excess of $1.2 billion.