Export growth seen as achievable goal
People around the globe wear Bausch + Lomb contact lenses made on North Goodman Street. Motion picture companies worldwide shoot on Kodak film coming out of Eastman Business Park. Commercial printers across the planet use iGen4 digital presses rolling off the line from Xerox’s Webster campus.
And with the White House wanting to see more American-made products in foreign customer hands, the U.S. State Department today will put on a town hall-style meeting in Rochester to talk about resources available to upstate companies looking to boost their presence internationally.
In January’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama set a goal of doubling U.S. goods and services exported over the next five years.
“It seems lofty … but realistically it’s very attainable,” said Laurie DeRoller. executive director of the International Business Council of Greater Rochester. “I’d like to see all manufacturers in the upstate area doing exporting. There’s not a good excuse as to why they can’t. There are numerous resources (that) in the past people maybe didn’t know about.”
The Obama administration’s National Export Initiative has goals of reforming export controls and expanding the credit available to small and midsized businesses.
Earlier this month, the administration also re-launched the President’s Export Council — a group of business and labor leaders who will advise federal policymakers on how to promote exports. Xerox CEO Ursula Burns is vice chairwoman of the council.
Challenging
A variety of issues can make exporting an uphill struggle, chief among them a relatively strong U.S. dollar, which make U.S. products relatively more expensive overseas, said Colin Read, professor of economics and finance at the State University College at Plattsburgh and principal consultant at Economic Insights, a consulting firm. “I think our dollar would have to weaken by a good 30 percent before we see (exports double in five years),” Read said. “A lot of export-oriented countries like a weak currency. A country like ours views a weak currency as a bad thing, as it raises prices for imported goods.”
Psychology can also be a sizable hurdle to a company with international aspirations, said DeRoller.
“It’s that overwhelming ‘omigosh, doing international business, it’s so hard,’” she said. “And it’s really not. The starting point, I tend to have people go back to the basics, Marketing 101, look at your product, your pricing, your promotion and your distribution. Not all products can be exported as is. You might have language issues with your manuals. Getting your product there is going to cost more. And then building your international plan on that.”
Crosman’s focus
Crosman Corp., the airgun and archery equipment company in Bloomfield, Ontario County, sharpened its focus on international customers starting in 2002 as part of an initiative by CEO Ken D’Arcy, said international sales manager Marc Miller.
The requirements can be onerous. “Nearly every country has different requirements for packaging,” Miller said on Tuesday as he readied for a trip today to visit with the company’s Brazilian distributor. “It’s imperative we look at each country as a separate entity and change the product so it’s not only legal to import and also something people in the local market are going to accept. The products sold in the U.S. are completely different than the products sold in the U.K. Going into Australia or Brazil or Italy, you actually have to pull serial numbers of every pellet gun you make and send it to them in advance.
“But if you do it properly and legally, it’s a good market.”
MDANEMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com
Forum today
What: Forum on President Barack Obama’s National Export Initiative.
When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today.
Where: Gleason Works auditorium, 1000 University Ave., Rochester.
Cost: $20 (free to members of the International Business Council, the Upstate NY District Export Council and Greater Rochester Enterprise).
Registration: Must be done in advance. Go to www.regonline.com/register/checkin .aspx?EventId=875859.
