ATaiwanese trade mission has yielded leads that could result in millions of dollars in contracts for North Dakota business owners, Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple said.

Dalrymple, who is leading the 29-member delegation on an eight-day trade mission that concludes Saturday, reported Thursday on some of the progress made in Taiwan in a conference call.

"I continue to be amazed at how successful our North Dakota companies are at merchandising in Taiwan and Asia generally,"Dalrymple said.

The delegation is currently attending a four-day trade show in Taiwan, called Food Taipei, the 16th Taipei International Food Show.

Dalrymple and business owners on the trip announced two major business agreements, with the possibility of more.

Tom Kenville, president of Mid-America Aviation, said he has agreements from three Chinese aerospace companies to provide them with aircraft maintenance and aircraft mechanical training services worth $1 million in the first year.

Kenville said the contract could allow him to build a new facility in West Fargo and to increase his staff of 28 to up to 45 employees.

Mid-America services gear boxes for military helicopters and jets, including the F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft. The new contracts will provide service to civilian aircraft, as well.

Grayson Hoberg said his company, Earth Harvest Mills of Harvey landed a contract with a large food retailer in Asia for 200 containers of organic flour per month. Each container holds about 20 tons.

"This is a significant deal for us," Hoberg said. The company currently has the capacity of 60 containers per month. Hoberg, who won the contract before going on the trade mission, withheld the name of the company he is doing business with because lawyers are still working out the details of the contract.

Dalrymple said Premier Pulse International of Minot is also working with a company to land a contract to sell 250 containers of food-grade peas and that Unity Seed of Casselton is working on a contract to sell 150 containers of non-genetically modified corn.

Other North Dakota producers are working to get contracts for their soybeans, but Dalrymple said they didn't want to give the specifics yet.

The trade mission also is helping UND Aerospace to establish a relationship with four Asian airlines. In 2007, the Taiwanese equivalent of the Federal Aviation Administration is taking proposals to train pilots and air traffic controllers, said Chuck Pineo of UND Aerospace. Pineo said that Taiwan will need to train 1,000 pilots a year to keep up with increasing demand due to growing economic activity.

On Monday, Dalrymple and Department of Transportation Director Dave Sprynczynatyk met with high-level officials from four of the world's major steamship lines in Shanghai, China and Hong Kong.

The meetings were part of Gov. Hoeven's Unified Rail Transportation Plan to increase the pool of intermodal shipping containers that are available for North Dakota businesses.

(Reach reporter Tom Rafferty at 223-8482 or tom.rafferty@;bismarcktribune.com.)