Metro Atlanta ranks 13th in exports, has potential for more
Atlanta business leaders extol the benefits of exports to the local economy, pointing to the jobs they create and the growth potential of international markets.
A new Brookings Institution study, billed as the first comprehensive analysis of U.S. exports in America's 100 largest metropolitan areas, suggests metro Atlanta has lots of room to grow in the export arena.
The area ranked 13th among 100 U.S. metro markets with $20.3 billion in annual exports, according to the study, titled "Export Nation," and 12th in export jobs, with 171,548. Metro Atlanta ranked 9th in population in the most recent U.S. Census estimates.
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Dallas led the export list. Rounding out the top 10 were San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Seattle.
Metro Atlanta did not do as well when it came to measuring how much of its local economy can be attributed to exports. In 2008, 8.3 percent of goods and services produced in Metro Atlanta were exported, good for 77th place.
Also, exports locally grew 6.1 percent from 2003-2008, a rate labeled "below average" in the study done by the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit public policy organization.
And, in exports to the key international growth markets of Brazil, India and China, Metro Atlanta ranked 76th in goods and services sold, with $8.3 billion.
The study defined an export as the sale of a good or service made locally to a person or business residing in a foreign country.
The study "represents a good snapshot of where we have been," said Ric Hubler, director of global business growth for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. He added, "There's room to grow."
One place with potential is Brazil, Hubler said, now that the country has a consulate general in Atlanta, and with direct flights between the two markets.
Metro Atlanta's leading export industry, the study found, is tourism, with residents of Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan the top buyers of travel services while in Atlanta, including food, lodging, recreation, gifts, entertainment and local transportation.
The area also ranked high in the export category labeled "passenger transportation." That refers to tickets sold by Atlanta-based carriers like Delta Air Lines to foreign residents. Airfares are not part of the tourism category.
Metro Atlanta's other major export industries, according to the study, are transportation equipment manufacturing, business and professional services, and freight and port services.
Slightly more than one-half of metro Atlanta's exports were in services, amounting to $10.7 billion of the $20.3 billion total. The other $9.6 billion in exports was in goods. Nationwide, goods represented far more of the exports from large metro areas than did services: $6.5 billion on average in goods versus $3.9 billion in services.
The Brookings report singled out for mention Norcross-based Suniva Inc, a manufacturer of high-efficiency silicon solar cells and high power solar modules.
Istrate called Suniva "a great example" of a company that's succeeded through innovation with exports worldwide, resulting in the creation of jobs in its community.
