Northwest Arkansas Exports Hit $699 Million Last Year

Exports from Northwest Arkansas companies hit $699 million last year, an increase of nearly 5 percent over 2012.

"It's a nice increase and one we expected to see," said Dan Hendrix, president and chief executive officer of the World Trade Center Arkansas.

The International Trade Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, released a report last week showing Northwest Arkansas was one of 200 Metropolitan Statistical Areas reporting annual export growth.

Northwest Arkansas' Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Washington, Benton and Madison counties in Arkansas and McDonald County, Mo. There are 388 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States.

Food manufacturing was Northwest Arkansas' largest export, accounting for $292 million, down from $320 million in 2012.

James Bledsoe, international trade specialist with the U.S. Export Assistance Center, part of the International Trade Administration, said the nation as a whole exported fewer items categorized as food manufacturing last year.

"It could be down for a number or reasons," he said.

Those reasons include some foreign bans on U.S. meat products. For example, the Agriculture Department announced last month China was barring pork imports from six U.S. processing plants because they use a feed additive China bans.

Bledsoe said exports could also be down because of increased demand for some products domestically.

Boon Tan, director of Asia Trade Development for the World Trade Center Arkansas, said it's not surprising to see food manufacturing lead the area's exports because of the presence of large local companies such as Tyson Foods, Simmons Foods and George's.

Arkansas' food exports were $747 million, making it the state's third largest export.

Hendrix said the World Trade Center's goal is to help small- to medium-sized companies start or increase exports by providing international trade services to the state's companies, agricultural producers and entrepreneurs.

The Rogers' office opened in 2007 and is part of the World Trade Centers Association, a New York-based not-for-profit organization operating in nearly 300 cities across more than 90 countries. Hendrix said his office may be in Northwest Arkansas, but it serves the entire state.

The state's exports hit $7.2 billion in 2013, down from $7.6 billion in 2012 but up from $5.6 billion in 2011.

"The largest export area for Arkansas is aerospace," Tan said.

Aerospace falls into the transportation equipment manufacturing category that account for $2.1 billion of the sate's $7.2 billion in exports last year. Northwest Arkansas companies exported $72.2 million in transportation equipment in 2013.

Among the companies in Arkansas exporting aerospace products is France-based Dassault Falcon Jet in Little Rock. The Arkansas branch finishes corporate jets and ships some overseas. Dassault broke ground Tuesday on a $60 million expansion project that will add 250,000 square feet of new production and completion space at the Little Rock airport.

Tan is preparing to attend an air show in China on Nov. 11-13 and is hoping to take representatives form three or four companies with him.

"Any company involved in any aspect of aerospace should look at coming with," he said.

Helping business leaders get to international trade fairs is a big part of the Trade Center's mission.

"We continue to believe our outbound trade missions are very important," Hendrix said. "You need to go, you need to see."

Grants from the U.S. Small Business Association's State Trade and Export Promotion Initiative and the Economic Development Administration help pay the way for businesses in the state attend international trade shows.

"Getting there has been a tipping point for some companies," Hendrix said. "I've heard them say they never could have attended an international event without reimbursement."

William Burgess said Power Technology used STEP Grants for a variety of purposes, including attending a pair of international trade shows. Burgess is vice president of operations for the Alexander-based high-tech manufacturing firm specializing in laser products.

"We get a lot of international pull for our products because they are unique and specialized," he said.

Burgess is also chairman of the Arkansas District Export Council. The council, much like the World Trade Center, focuses on small- and medium-sized companies.

"What they really need is education and we teach the basics," he said.

Bledsoe said export groups are also helping spread the word, making sure companies of all size see exporting as a possibility.

"It is not getting the attention it needs or deserves," he said.

He points to the National Export Initiative as a way the federal government is trying to change that. President Obama launched the initiative in 2010 with a goal to double the nation's exports by the end of this year. U.S. exports were $700 billion in 2009 and $2.3 trillion in 2013.

The program is now in a new phase called NEI/NEXT.

"They saw the National Export Initiative was working with the gradual increase of exports and wanted to put more emphasis on this," Bledsoe said. "This is good for exporting."

NW News on 09/08/2014