U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Encourages Export Expansion

Local business’ export success highlights how new National Export Initiative can help U.S. companies sell their goods and services overseas

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today explained how expanding exports of U.S. manufactured goods and services will drive job creation during a visit to the Precision Auto Care, Inc., a client of the department’s International Trade Administration (ITA), in Leesburg, Va.

During his visit, Locke, joined by U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, met with local businesses to discuss President Obama’s National Export Initiative (NEI) and highlight the role the Commerce Department continues to play in supporting U.S. businesses wanting to enter the global marketplace.

Through the NEI, President Obama has instructed the federal government to use every available federal resource to help double American exports during the next five years to support two million jobs.

“The NEI was designed with one overriding goal in mind: to get people back to work in jobs that provide security, dignity and sense of hope for the future,” Locke said. “It will help build a stronger economic foundation and allow us to return to the type of sustainable growth that not long ago helped build the strongest middle class in history.”

Exports remain an integral part of the U.S. economy. In 2009, exports accounted for 11 percent of our gross domestic product and supported nearly 10 million American jobs. For every $1 billion in exports, 6,250 manufacturing jobs are created or supported.

The NEI is focused on creating a more robust effort to expand trade promotion and advocacy in all its forms, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises. This effort includes: educating U.S. companies about opportunities overseas, improving access to credit for businesses that want to export, and continuing the rigorous enforcement of trade laws so that American companies compete on a level playing field.

Precision Auto Care, Inc., headquartered in Leesburg, has been in the automotive maintenance services business for more than 30 years, and a client of ITA’s U.S. Commercial Service (CS) since 2006. There are currently 340 independently owned and operated Precision Tune Auto Care centers providing routine automotive maintenance and repair throughout the United States, Canada, El Salvador, Oman, Portugal, Spain and Taiwan. With CS’s assistance, Precision Tune recently signed master franchisor agreements with firms in Nigeria, Ghana, the Republic of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.