Brooklyn's Progress
November 2001

Exports in 10th Congressional District Valued at $626 million, Supporting 1,232 Jobs Local business leaders joined forces today to release a recently a study quantifying the impact of exports from northern Brooklyn’s 10th Congressional District. The study shows that exporting is an important source of job creation, revenue and above average paying employment in the region. “We already knew that international trade was essential to growing jobs across the river. This report shows that Brooklyn companies also benefit directly from trade,” stated Jon Paone, managing director of goTRADE New York. “The Importance of International Trade: New York’s 10th Congressional District” was prepared by Global Trade Information Services, Inc., an independent economics firm. The report was released by the BRT goTRADE New York, on behalf of The Business Roundtable (BRT), sponsor of the document. Members of BRT goTRADE New York presented the report to Congressman Ed Towns on October 23 in a meeting at the Congressman’s Court Street office. Representatives of several local companies and business associations participated in the meeting, including: the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase and Noamex. Among the key findings were: The vast majority of exporting companies in the District are small businesses. Nearly 87 percent of these exporting manufacturers employ fewer than 100 people. There are an estimated 260 manufacturing exporters in the 10th District with exports totaling $626 million in 2000. More than 4,546 jobs in Brooklyn and 27,000 jobs in the city are directly linked to manufacturing exports. Nationally, exporters pay wages that are 14% higher than non-exporting companies. Statewide, more than 195,000 jobs are supported by service industry exports, such as banking, legal, brokerage and advertising services. “The report clearly shows that exporting is key to the economic success of Southeastern Brooklyn. Congress should renew Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to ensure that local exporters will find open foreign markets for their products. The United States needs to get off the sidelines and back in the business of expanding trade opportunities,” said Jon Paone. The report contains examples of companies that are creating jobs and contributing to the economy of the 10th Congressional District through exporting. For example, Noamex, Inc. exports tens of thousands of pounds of used clothing daily to poor nations where new clothing is a prohibitively expensive. The goTRADE initiative is a national trade education and information program designed to help Americans better understand the benefits of international trade. Each local goTRADE organization features a locally organized pro-trade network comprised of businesses, workers, academics, etc. The goTRADE initiative is currently operating in 26 states and 167 congressional districts. The “goTrade” initiative is sponsored by The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading corporations, with a combined workforce of more than 10 million employees in the United States and $3.5 trillion in revenues. The chief executives are committed to advocating public policies that foster vigorous economic growth and a dynamic global economy. For more information visit the organization’s website at www.gotrade.org.