The state will spend $1.6 million on a new export program aimed at helping small businesses ship their products and services overseas.
Officials said that 95 percent of state businesses are considered small, but only 4 percent are involved in exports. The new program, launched today, uses federal funds from the Small Business Jobs Act.
“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.”
The program has three main components:
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.
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.
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.
He cited the example of 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.
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.
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