U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to Take Nationwide New Markets, New Jobs Tour to Wilmington to Help Small Businesses Export

Locke will stress the importance of growing exports to creating jobs, strengthening U.S. economy

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will travel to Wilmington, Del. on Friday for the fourth stop of the New Markets, New Jobs small business outreach tour. He will deliver keynote remarks at the conference, which is being hosted by World Trade Center of Delaware and the State of Delaware International Trade and Development. Locke will be joined by Delaware Governor Jack Markell, U.S. Small Business Administration Deputy Administrator Marie Johns, U.S. Department of Agriculture Acting Under Secretary Michael Scuse, and Export-Import Bank Board Member Diane Farrell.

Only one percent of U.S. companies export, and 58 percent of those companies export to only one country. In a growing global marketplace where 95 percent of the world's consumers reside outside our borders, U.S. companies and the economy stand to benefit from selling more of their products and services abroad. But breaking into new markets overseas still present many hurdles to America's small- and medium-sized businesses: the lack of readily available information about exporting and market research; challenges in accessing export financing; and strong competition from foreign companies and governments.

Announced on the one-year anniversary of President Obama's National Export Initiative (NEI), the New Markets, New Jobs tour is an interagency, multi-city outreach campaign spearheaded by the Commerce Department, designed to help connect small- and medium-sized businesses with the resources they need to sell more of what they make overseas. New Markets, New Jobs kicked off in February in Minneapolis, Minn., followed by Los Angeles in March, and New Orleans in April. The Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are all participating in the outreach tour.

The NEI aims to double U.S. exports in five years in support of several million new jobs. It enhances the U.S. government's trade promotion efforts, increases credit to businesses looking to export, and continues to improve efforts to remove trade barriers for U.S. companies in foreign markets. 

Businesses from Delaware exported $5 billion worth of goods in 2010.  Goods exports from Delaware rose 15 percent ($4.3 billion to $5.0 billion) from 2009 to 2010.

The New Markets, New Jobs conference will feature:

• Trade resource panels on key export topics, including the spectrum of federal resources that can help businesses begin exporting or expand their exports.
• Materials and resources to guide companies in the process of selling their products and services to consumers all over the world;
• Lessons learned from area businesses that have succeeded in utilizing federal resources to expand into new markets and grow their businesses; and
• Remarks from senior federal and local government officials.

SOURCE U.S. Commercial Service