Benchmark, GoLite entering Europe

BOULDER – For some companies, marketing to Europe is considered expansion. For two local manufacturers, Europe is a strategic start.

“Europe represents 25 percent of total tape drives sold. It was too big of a market to overlook,´ said Frank Hensley, director of European and U.S. distribution sales for Boulder-based Benchmark Tape Systems.

The European Union has 15 members: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Austria, Finland and Sweden. All are potential trading partners.

Benchmark was alerted to Europe’s affinity for its tape drives shortly after it was founded. A January 1999 article in…