Kevin Meerschaert
Northeast Florida officials are looking to boost exports and therefore increase the number of jobs in the region.
The Metro Jacksonville/Northeast Florida Export Plan intends to promote economic development and encourage more businesses to consider exporting their goods.
It’s part of the Global Cities Initiative that helps cities around the world develop their economies by strengthening international connections and competitiveness.
According to the study, only about one-third of area companies are exporting and the others are showing little interest in doing so despite the additional sales and jobs it could bring.
Incoming Jaxport Board Chairman John Newman said there is a lot the port can do to help small businesses get in the export business.
“The more product they can export the more customers they have,” he said. “So the more they export the more they sell. The more product that needs to be manufactured the more people they need to hire. That’s how the process works.”
Officials held the announcement Tuesday at the Saft America lithium-ion battery plant at the Cecil Commerce Center on Jacksonville’s Westside.
The company makes large high technology batteries used in electricity grids, telecommunications and other industries. The Jacksonville plant opened in late 2011.
General Manager Christopher Kaniut said the majority of its product ships overseas. He said Jaxport was instrumental in the company being able to improve its export ability out of northeast Florida.
He pointed to an example of being able to find a local company to supply shipping containers that they previously had to import.
“It’s helped us significantly reduce our lead times,” Kaniut said. “It allows us to make manufacturing changes much faster and it allows us to capture business that we otherwise would not be able to get because of how we were set up originally.”
Despite a strong infrastructure including railways and access to I-95 and I-10, the report states Jacksonville is under-performing in the export businesses. It says exports of locally produced goods and services account for 7.4 percent of the regions total economic output. The goal of the initiative is to increase that amount to at least the national average of 13.2 percent.
