Colorado exports have recovered modestly from a plunge last year, and those behind efforts to help companies expand international sales are aiming to build on that momentum.
Exports from Colorado rose 9.9 percent through August compared with the same period in 2009, according to the latest figures available from Wiser Trade and the World Trade Center Denver. Exports from the state had dropped 23.9 percent between 2008 and 2009.
Some of the state’s biggest export categories, including electronic circuits, beef and medical devices, have all seen gains.
In March, President Barack Obama announced the National Export Initiative, a federal effort to create 2 million jobs by doubling exports over the next five years.
“While it may be slow here in the U.S., there’s 250 countries that you could be exporting to,” said Paul Bergman Jr., director of the Denver-based U.S. Export Assistance Center. “So we are trying to get our U.S. manufacturers into those markets over there.”
Two programs exist in Colorado to support small to medium-size businesses through the International Trade Office in the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
The Colorado Export Development Grant supports companies with fewer than 200 employees to develop a new export market and includes financial assistance of up to $2,000. The program has awarded $33,500 to 28 companies in its two years of existence.
The Colorado Export of Innovative and Sustainable Technologies (Co-Exist) program aims to enhance market opportunities for Colorado clean- tech companies in China and Mexico. Businesses are introduced to potential partners and have access to a technical-assistance fund.
On the national level, a federal mechanism makes financing more accessible for small to medium-size exporters.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Commercial Service consults and advocates for small to medium-size businesses in their exporting ambitions, pairs them with potential buyers, hosts trade shows on behalf of businesses and accompanies them to ones abroad. The last three are not free services.
Denver-based Icelantic, a ski manufacturer with five full-time employees, has relied on U.S. Commercial Service as a primary resource in exporting to Europe, Canada and Japan.
“I went into this blindly,” said Annelise Loevlie, head of Icelantic’s international sales and marketing. “They helped a lot.”
Interest in such assistance is growing in Colorado.
“These are not the same companies we were working with five years ago,” said Suzette Nickle, a senior international-trade specialist for the U.S. Commercial Service. “These are companies that have really great products and services or technologies, and they understand if they want to compete even in the domestic markets these days, you have to have a global plan.”
Rita Wold: 303-954-1488 or rwold@denverpost.com
