Companies already benefitting from new State Trade and
Export Promotion (STEP) grant program expected to aid over 100 small businesses
and generate $58 million in new export sales
December 6, 2011— The Washington
State Department of Commerce has launched the Export
Washington program, moving another step forward toward the goal of
increasing the number of Washington state businesses actively exporting by 30%
and growing export sales to $100 billion by 2015 as called for in Governor
Gregoire’s Washington
Export Initiative.
The new Export Washington program represents a $1.6 million
investment in Washington’s small businesses, making it possible for them to
expand into high-potential overseas markets. It is funded by the U.S. Small
Business Administration’s State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) grant program.
Washington earned the third largest state grant from SBA under the federal
Small Business Jobs Act. The newly funded programs will run for 12 months. The
Washington State Legislature previously allocated
$3 million over three years for export training and other assistance to
support the Washington Export Initiative.
“With 95 percent of the world’s consumers outside of the United States,
exporting represents one of our greatest opportunities to generate economic
growth and jobs,” said Commerce Director Rogers Weed. “But it takes time and
effort to develop export opportunities. These new programs enabled by the STEP
grant, will help more of our state’s promising businesses and entrepreneurs open
up international markets for their products and services.” Through the slow
recovery from recession, companies engaged in exporting showed a pattern of
growth in the past one to two years, while non-trading companies generally
declined in the same period according to Commerce analysis.
Small businesses make up about 95 percent of Washington businesses, and
only 4 percent of Washington businesses currently export. Commerce officials
estimate that 100 companies will benefit from the new Export Washington program.
The program has three main components:
1. International, Rural and Agricultural Accelerator
programs—Washington State representatives in Europe and China provide direct
sales, marketing and distribution assistance for state small businesses ,
effectively giving them “boots on the ground” in those high-potential markets.
Rural Washington businesses will be able to leverage expertise from community
economic development partners as well as training, mentorship and networking
programs. Agriculturally-focused businesses will have direct access to trade
representatives from key target markets including China, Japan, Mexico and
Taiwan, along with training on food and beverage-specific requirements for
exports to these target markets. They’ll also receive help with developing
export marketing plans.
2. Export Finance Assistance—The Export Finance Assistance Center of Washington
will focus an aggressive series of training activities aimed at increasing the
number of banks that participate in export finance programs from the
Export-Import Bank and Small Business Administration.
3. Export Vouchers—As a direct investment in the growth of
Washington small businesses, a voucher program will help them “go global” by
paying for training and marketing activities including trade shows, language
translations, international product certifications, and other activities.
“For a business poised to expand into a promising new market, an export
voucher can provide the incentive needed for them to ‘make the leap’ without
having to cut elsewhere,” Weed said.
One example is Enprecis, a Seattle-based technology company with a focus on
the automotive industry serving eight global markets including China and Russia,
and 12 car-maker brands. Enprecis’ global expansion going forward will use the
China Accelerator program which will enable the company to open a
Shanghai office.
Richard Counihan, Enprecis CEO, notes that "Without the assistance and
programs from the Washington State Department of Commerce, we would have been
unable to get access to the key decision makers at important global
manufacturers in markets such as China. As a result, we accomplished swift
decisions to move forward and received assistance to get up and running."
Several companies will be using the Export Washington vouchers to
participate in upcoming trade shows, including those targeted by Commerce such
as the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain in February and the Aerospace
and Defense Supplier Summit in Seattle in March. There are still vouchers
available to attend these and other shows, for more information see the Export
Voucher Program website.
