Virginia exports at an all-time high

By EMILY C. DOOLEY
Media General News Service
Published: September 9, 2008

In two months, Chuck Hoover Jr. is heading to Vietnam.

His Southwest Virginia company, Hoover Color Corp., blends pigments to create furniture stains and paint colors.

Exports to China

Over the years, exports from Virginia to China have grown.

2002: $368.6 million
2003: $521.2 million
2004: $608.4 million
2005: $721.5 million
2006: $942.5 million
2007: $1.1 billion

Top spots

The top 10 countries that Virginia exported to in 2007:

Canada: $2.7 billion
China: $1.1 billion
United Kingdom: $1.1 billion
Germany: $962 million
Portugal: $897 million
Singapore: $823 million
Japan: $784 million
Mexico: $616 million
Brazil: $528 million
Taiwan: $504 million

SOURCE: Department of Commerce

It has distributors in China, but several clients are opening furniture factories in Vietnam. Furniture is Hoover Color’s biggest market.

So the chief operating officer is going on a trade mission sponsored by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. He hopes to connect with some distributors in Vietnam on Nov. 3-7.

“This is a first trip,“ said Hoover, whose company is based in Hiwassee in Southwest Virginia. “The trade mission is an ideal way to have someone hold your hand.“

The commonwealth wants to promote global business.

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Last year, Virginia companies exported $16.9 billion in products overseas. Five years earlier, it was $10.8 billion, according to the Department of Commerce.

“Virginia exports are at an all-time high,“ said Paul H. Grossman Jr., director of international trade and investment for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

The state offers one-on-one counseling with trade experts, as well as programs that help companies start doing business overseas or expand operations. They also organize trade missions.

For trade missions, companies must pay a registration fee, ranging from $1,950 to $2,350. Such expenses as food, hotels and air travel are paid by the businesses. “It’s sort of like a tailored, pre-screened, pre-vetted business trip,“ Grossman said.

Exporters in the past focused on historic trading partners with similar cultures, but that is changing, Grossman said. Asia is getting a lot of attention.

Mandarin Chinese classes sponsored by the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce begin today in Richmond. A trade mission to Japan leaves next week. And a world trade conference focusing on India takes place in Norfolk next month.

“The emergence of China is a new phenomenon for Virginia,“ Grossman said.

Ten years ago, the communist country wasn’t even on the top 10 list of Virginia’s export partners. Now, it’s No. 2.

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The country is attractive because the population is booming—more than 1.3 billion people live there—and the middle class is growing. “There’s just a lot of buying power,“ said Keith Long, director of international marketing for Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Virginia does well in the foreign trade business because of its array of offerings. Richmond and the Washington metro areas ranked among the top 50 regions in the country in exports. Virginia Beach and Bristol ranked in the top 100 of 369 metro areas.

“The blessing of Virginia is that we’re so diverse,“ Grossman said.

Jason Hart, for instance, wants a piece of a relatively new market in China—products for pets. He’s the director of sales and marketing for Premier Pet Products, based in Midlothian.

Premier Pet makes products in China but because of government restrictions, the manufacturers cannot sell in China. Hart is working with the state to figure out how to reach the Chinese market. “We want to be there earlier rather than later,“ he said.

Filtrona Richmond, based in Colonial Heights, makes parts used in pens, markers, liquid air fresheners, ink jet printers and medical devices. The company began exporting to China in 1997 but was in other parts of Asia before that, spokesman Jeff Green said. The company is owned by Filtrona plc in the United Kingdom.

The company has a manufacturing facility in Colonial Heights, as well as in China and Germany. Regional facilities mean better customer service.

“Many of our customers are multinational corporations, and they are very pleased that they can get product from us in the regions where they operate,“ Green said in an e-mail.

Expanding operations overseas also insulates Virginia from feeling the brunt of a domestic recession, said Hugh Keogh, president and chief executive of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

“We live in a global economy, and it’s going to get more global with every passing day.“