Small Businesses Increase Their Share of Exports

According to new data published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, small businesses have increased their share of exports in the two years.

Companies with fewer than 500 employees accounted for 35 percent of exports in the third quarter of 2011, according to preliminary figures from the Census Bureau. That’s up from about 32.8 percent in 2009. The figure, from a report to be released in April, refers only to sales of goods, not services.

Learn more here (under the Exporting sub-head).

Small Business Exports: Where They Stand

John Tozzi, our friend and colleague at BusinessWeek, reports on "Small Business Exports Edge Up."

Key comment:

“Ninety-eight percent of U.S. exporters are small and medium-sized enterprises but these exporters have historically represented only 30 percent of U.S. export value,” Tim Truman, a spokesman for the Commerce Department’s International Trade Association, said in an email.

And we are pleased to be quoted (GlobeTrade) in the article as well -- thank you John for including us!

Read the entire article here.  International Trade Update here.

Illustration credit here.