Source:  USDA, 2/17/11

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited Minneapolis today to help launch a year-long, multi-city campaign designed to help connect small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) with the resources they need to export their food and agricultural goods overseas. At the “New Markets, New Jobs” conference, Merrigan announced a $200,000 grant to four state regional trade groups meant to assist 400 food and agricultural small and medium enterprises across the country in reaching new markets. The conference, sponsored by the Commerce Department, aims to bring awareness to President Obama’s National Export Initiative (NEI), a program intended to coordinate federal efforts to double U.S. exports by 2014 and create several million new jobs.

“USDA is focused on stimulating growth, creating jobs, and setting in place a framework for a robust future for the rural economy,” said Merrigan. “U.S. farmers and ranchers had a record-breaking export year in 2010 and continue a record-setting pace in the early stages of fiscal year 2011, with rises in both the value and volume of U.S. agricultural exports worldwide. This is good news for all Americans in these trying economic times. Every $1 billion in agricultural exports supports 8,000 American jobs. And by increasing support for NEI and American small and medium enterprises, we’re saying that we’re committed to making strategic investments to grow the economy in the future.”

Deputy Secretary Merrigan was joined in Minnesota by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg, and Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills. Also participating was Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, and Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak.

At the event, Merrigan announced a $200,000 grant from USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP), which helps U.S. producers, exporters, private companies, and other trade organizations finance promotional activities for U.S. agricultural products. In 2010, the MAP program helped more than 600 new small and medium enterprises promote their products overseas. Small companies made over 975 first-time sales to new markets. The new grant will help to support special seminars and mentoring for 400 food and agricultural small and medium enterprises across the country.  

A recent International Trade Commission survey found that exporting small and medium sized manufacturers in 2009 had more than twice the total revenue of their non-exporting counterparts. They experienced revenue growth of 37 percent between 2005 and 2009, while total revenue declined by 7 percent for non-exporting SME manufacturers over the same period.