Wal-Mart in China. McDonalds in India. Globalization is a byword these days: inescapably present in media, the classroom, and popular culture. Yet the vital life-force behind globalization—international trade—is often considered a phrase that belongs exclusively to the glamorous world of multimillion dollar corporate transactions. Exporting may seem far removed from a small business operating in the Midwest, yet a look at statistics gives interesting insights that possibly prove the opposite. While, as a percentage, small and medium sized businesses account for only 30% of total U.S. export value, they account for 97% of the country’s actual exporters. The trend is rapidly increasing as more and more small business owners find that the benefits increased sales, market share, and diversification of risk soon outweigh the initial hurdle of capital, while the opening up of free trade agreements in Australia, Chile, Singapore, Jordan, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Central America as well as elsewhere are creating more opportunities than ever before. And what about Arkansas? Many are surprised to even learn of the existence of a World Trade Center in Arkansas. Yet constantly we are kept busy helping businesses--many of them SMEs-achieve their goals through our trade development and market research services. Below are some facts and statistics about Arkansas exports from the U.S. Department of Commerce:
Exports sustain over a thousand Arkansas businesses.
• A total of 1,583 companies exported goods from Arkansas locations in 2008.
• Of those, 1,218 (77 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 17 percent of Arkansas' total exports of merchandise in 2008.
Arkansas depends on world markets.
• Arkansas's export shipments of merchandise in 2010 totaled $5.2 billion.
• The state's largest market was Canada. Arkansas posted merchandise exports of $1.4 billion to Canada in 2010, 26 percent of the state’s total merchandise exports.
• Canada was followed by Mexico ($544 million), China ($336 million), Japan ($334 million), and the United Kingdom ($168 million).
Exports support jobs for Arkansas workers.
• Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 5.3 percent of Arkansas’ total private-sector employment.
• One-seventh (14.4 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Arkansas depend on exports for their jobs.
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