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Export growth will play an increasingly important role in Utah's economy in the years ahead and has the potential to generate much-needed jobs, according to a new report by the Brookings Institution that echoes other indicators in the state.
Co-author Mark Muro said the growth is poised to take up some of the slack created during the Great Recession by the decline in the state's real estate industry and its slowing population growth, both of which have long served as engines of economic expansion.
"For many Utah business operators, thinking about exports and global markets is almost second nature," said Muro, research director for Brookings, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., that produced the report with the University of Nevada Las Vegas. "It is part of the state's culture, which can be traced back to the LDS Church and its missionary efforts around the world."
The report, "Export West: How Intermountain West Metros Can Lead National Export Growth and Boost Competitiveness," lists 10 metropolitan areas in the region that count on exports to be as much as 13.4 percent of their gross product.
Three -- Salt Lake City (10.5 percent), Provo/Orem (12.7 percent) and Ogden/Clearfield (12.7 percent) -- are in Utah and support nearly 100,000 jobs. "Mountain metros . . . not only expanded their export sales but also grew more export intensive from 2003 to 2008," Muro said.
And in Utah, that growth continued in 2009, setting the foundation for more job expansion.
Last year, the state was the only one in the nation to report positive export growth, albeit only a slight increase over 2008, said Lew Cramer, CEO of the World Trade Center of Utah.
Through the first five months of this year, Utah once again is among the leading states, with growth in exports topping 47 percent.
"Our business owners and operators more and more are recognizing the benefits of being engaged in the global economy," said Cramer, whose organization promotes international trade. "We may be a small state in the middle of the mountains, but our companies increasingly are turning to exports for growth."
In Utah, more than 14 percent of all manufacturing workers depend upon exports for their jobs, according to data from the from the federal government's International Trade Administration. The state also is home to more than 2,400 exporters, 86 percent of which are small and medium-sized companies.
Sean Brophy, vice president of international sales at Lifetime Products in Clearfield, said his company saw a slight decline in its overseas sales last year but that activity has picked up. "We're seeing good sales growth in Asia, along with improvement in Brazil and Canada."
Lifetime, which produces products ranging from folding tables and chairs to basketball standards and steel utility trailers, generates nearly 20 percent of its revenue from exports, Brophy said.
"Our short-term goal is to increase that to above 20 percent," he said, noting the company has about 1,200 employees in Utah.
Muro attributes much of the state's success to the efforts of former Gov. Jon Huntsman, who made export growth a priority of his administration.
And Cramer said Huntsman, who is now serving as the U.S. ambassador to China, is continuing his efforts to expand Utah exports. "He keeps sending us business delegations from China. We've got another group that will be here this week."