Deputy Secretary Andrews Highlights Efforts to Boost Rural Exports in Upstate New York

Today, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews highlighted efforts to boost rural exports in upstate New York at a “Made in Rural America” forum at SUNY Cortland. Deputy Secretary Andrews was joined by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) at the event, where both delivered remarks on how to position rural America for success in the 21^stcentury.

Co-hosted by the White House, U.S. Commerce Department, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Appalachian Regional Commission, the forum convened local business leaders, industry representatives, economic development organizations and local, state and federal leaders to discuss ways to help rural businesses grow. The forum supports the Administration’s “Made in Rural America” Export and Investment Initiative that President Obama announced earlier this year to help rural businesses and leaders take advantage of new investment opportunities and access new markets abroad.

In his remarks, Deputy Secretary Andrews discussed Commerce Department work to ensure small and medium-size businesses have the tools needed to begin or expand exports and create good jobs. Specifically, he outlined goals to expand the national and global footprint of our local and rural businesses; create good-paying jobs for our workers; and cultivate prosperity in communities across Central New York.

A key part of those efforts is the NEI/NEXT initiative – the second phase of President Obama’s successful National Export Initiative – which is a data-based, customer-driven initiative focused on helping more American businesses of all sizes capitalize on new and existing opportunities to sell their goods and services abroad. Since the launch of NEI, we have seen four straight years of record-breaking exports, hitting an all-time high of $2.3 trillion dollars in 2013.

New York State plays a large role in our drive to grow national exports. According to new Commerce Department data releasedearlier this week, 324,000 New Yorkers go to work each day in a job supported by exports – placing the state in the top five nationwide. Overall, U.S. goods and services exports supported more than 11.3 million American jobs in 2013.

The Commerce Department is committed to increasing these numbers and helping even more businesses in rural America expand exports to the 95 percent of consumers residing outside our borders.

For more information, visit BusinessUSA's Rural Exporting webpage.