Exports

Hoping to increase the number of local businesses with an overseas reach, Gov. Martin O'Malley said Thursday that the state will restart a program that gave $5,000 export-assistance grants to firms but had its funding frozen this fiscal year because of the budget crisis. The planned July 1 revival of the Export MD program is part of his newly announced Maryland Export Initiative, which O'Malley hopes will create jobs by connecting more firms to foreign markets. Just 3 percent of Maryland companies currently export overseas, he said.

Businesses in China and India, the emerging markets that Gov. Martin O'Malley has been trawling for trade relationships, are beginning to bite. This month, the governor announced the opening of a Chinese bank in Baltimore and conducted a forum for Indian business leaders, priming them to open U.S. subsidiaries in the state. The events could be a turning point for investment in Maryland from these countries. "Europe is struggling and global companies want to go to stable environments," said Nancy McLernon, president and CEO of the Organization for International Investment, a Washington-based nonprofit business association for U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies.

The Baltimore region showed nearly double-digit growth in export goods and services in 2010, with room to grow, according to a study released Thursday by the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based public policy organization. The report, titled "Export Nation," reviewed data collected from the 100 largest U.S. metro areas. Baltimore was ranked 27th, with exports valued at $9.7 billion. U.S. exports, led by manufacturing, grew faster than at any time since 1997, said Emilia Istrate, the study's lead author.

Dominion Resources, the Richmond, Va.-based energy producer, said Thursday it will move ahead with plans to convert a liquefied natural gas terminal at Cove Point in Calvert County into an export facility — a decision that drew the immediate objection of the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club said it has a right to reject the project, citing a legal settlement that the environmental group said prevents Dominion from exporting the fuel to other countries, instead of just importing it. But Dominion disagreed with the group's assertion.

The Baltimore area's top export industries are well-positioned to grow, and metropolitan areas nationwide are expected to play key roles in helping boost U.S. exports — and job growth, according to a study released Monday by the Brookings Institution. The study, Export Nation, offers what its authors say is the first in-depth look at the geography of exporting in the U.S., analyzing exports in the nation's top 100 metropolitan areas. The Baltimore metro area falls in the top third of that category , with $9 billion in annual export production and more than 74,000 export-related jobs.

Today marks the second anniversary of President Barack Obama's National Export Initiative (NEI), an ambitious effort to double U.S. exports by the end of 2014 and support millions of American jobs. In 2011, U.S. goods and services exports reached a record $2.1 trillion and supported the growth of American businesses across the country. Moreover, our economy has added private sector jobs for 24 straight months. Cities like Baltimore are fueling America's exporting growth. According to new data from the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA)

The recession is not without a silver lining. Hard economic times at home are forcing businesses to aggressively seek markets overseas. Yet though exports of Maryland-made goods rose 25 percent to $3.17 billion in 1990, much of the state's foreign trade potential is still untapped. Frederick County is a case in point. Only 63 out the county's 3,000 businesses are selling internationally, although many more could do so.Up to now the county has not pushed exports in a coordinated fashion. But a state-sponsored survey of Frederick companies' foreign sales efforts has now led to discussion about forming an export council.

On this Labor Day, as most of us enjoy an additional day off, many Marylanders - those who are unemployed - would like nothing better than to no longer have to rest from their labors. What can we do to put them back to work? This summer, Gov. Martin O'Malley convened 16 business and educational leaders for the first meeting of the Governor's International Advisory Council. Our mission was to suggest ways to increase exports from our state and figure out how to attract foreign companies to establish beachheads in Maryland, generating local jobs.

Kirschner Medical Corp. of Timonium says it will continue most of its exports of orthopedic products despite the removal of a Food and Drug Administration certificate of export this week.The financial impact of the FDA's action on the company will be "negligible," Kirschner Chief Executive C. Scott Harrison said yesterday.The certificate assures foreign countries there is no problem with the manufacturing process, the FDA said, but is not required.After consulting with legal counsel, Mr. Harrison said, the company will continue shipping to more than 30 companies.

AS A STATE, economically speaking, Maryland has come a long way since the recession of 1991.Its companies -- particularly its finance and manufacturing companies -- are leaner and better-focused than they were early in the decade, though it took painful layoffs and consolidations to get them there.Maryland added such crucial "New Economy" industries as telecommunications and biotechnology. Both are growing nicely.And it's even made some progress shedding its reputation as a state that's hostile to business.

A Chinese bank will establish its first U.S. office in Maryland, state economic development officials announced Friday. The Export-Import Bank of China and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development signed a cooperative agreement allowing the bank to open an office at the World Trade Center Baltimore at the Inner Harbor. The bank will focus on business development, project evaluation and building relationships in the U.S. market as well as consider providing funding for Chinese companies looking to invest in the United States.

As part of the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship speaker series, Andrew Kreinik, senior growth advisor for the Small Business Development Centers, will speak on "Think Global - SBDC Export Assistance Program" Friday, April 20 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at 9250 Bendix Road North, in Columbia. The focus is on the benefits of exporting for small businesses, support services available and which export activities are making it easier to export. Learn about the resources, financing and cost-free consulting available.

Today marks the second anniversary of President Barack Obama's National Export Initiative (NEI), an ambitious effort to double U.S. exports by the end of 2014 and support millions of American jobs. In 2011, U.S. goods and services exports reached a record $2.1 trillion and supported the growth of American businesses across the country. Moreover, our economy has added private sector jobs for 24 straight months. Cities like Baltimore are fueling America's exporting growth. According to new data from the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA)

The Baltimore region showed nearly double-digit growth in export goods and services in 2010, with room to grow, according to a study released Thursday by the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based public policy organization. The report, titled "Export Nation," reviewed data collected from the 100 largest U.S. metro areas. Baltimore was ranked 27th, with exports valued at $9.7 billion. U.S. exports, led by manufacturing, grew faster than at any time since 1997, said Emilia Istrate, the study's lead author.

In recent years, the natural gas industry plunged into a reckless gold rush across communities nationwide with dirty, dangerous drilling and "fracking" practices that are exempt from many clean air and water laws. Now the gas profiteers have realized that there's even more money to be made by liquefying the gas and shipping it overseas - and so what if that sends gas prices here at home through the roof? The proposed Dominion LNG export facility in Calvert County's Cove Point provides a good case study of why this practice is bad for the environment, for people and for our nation's fragile economy.

— It's quiet these days at Dominion's liquefied natural gas terminal in the Chesapeake Bay. Only five tankers docked last year at the pier a mile off the Calvert County shoreline, and not much traffic is expected this year, either. But thanks in large part to booming production of natural gas from shale deposits in neighboring states, the East Coast's largest LNG terminal could be bustling again in several years — exporting the heating and industrial fuel to other countries, instead of importing it. Dominion, based in Richmond, Va., has won approval from the Department of Energy to use Cove Point for exporting liquefied natural gas to about 20 nations with which the United States has free-trade agreements.

While the trade agreement hammered out last week between the United States and Japan establishes a framework for possible progress, it holds the potential of boosting Maryland exports to Japan, according to state officials and business executives."

WASHINGTON -- Only a handful of misleading statements were made during the debate last night among President Bush, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and independent Ross Perot. Among them:* Mr. Perot said free-trade agreements with countries that pay low wages and do not impose environmental regulations on business lead to mass losses of U.S. jobs.Fact: He's wrong. Mr. Bush was right when he said such agreements stimulate net gains of new U.S. jobs. Rising U.S. exports have been responsible for more than half the growth of the U.S. economy in the past five years.

Just as the U.S. economy appears to be improving, four sets of forces could thrust America into an abyss rivaling the Depression. •First, for decades, Washington has pursued more open global trade and domestic deregulation. These unleashed great potential for innovation and growth; however, China and other nations have abused freer trade through export subsidies and import barriers to boost their economies at the expense of others. And, in some industries, a few players have amassed great monopoly power - notably, large financial houses on Wall Street and in Europe that now have an iron grip on lending.

The bizarre plot federal law enforcement officials described Tuesday in which elements of the Iranian government are accused of trying to blow up Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. with explosives planted in a Washington restaurant sounds like something out of a spy novel. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III acknowledged as much at the news conference announcing the arrest of one of the alleged conspirators. Yet if true, the charges represent an unprecedented and intolerable provocation by a regime long known for exporting terrorism, and they demand the strongest possible response - short of direct military action - from the U.S. and the international community.