Rejuvenating the Portland area's exports

Photo courtesy of Nyssa Clark

Exports from the Portland metropolitan region doubled between 2003-2008 and boosted the region into 2nd place nationally in terms of the value of exported products and services to our "gross metropolitan product."

Now manufacturing and shipping firms on the Westside of the Portland region appear well-positioned to increase exports by even greater volumes in the near future.

In his "State of the Union" address last year, President Obama challenged U.S. manufacturers to double exports in the next five years, promising 2 million new jobs would accelerate the nation's economic recovery.

To accomplish the President's National Trade Initiative, the Brookings Institute is working with local leaders to develop and implement an export plan. Brookings Institute selected the Portland region as one of four regional markets to promote its Metropolitan Export Initiative. The other three markets are Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Syracuse.

According to The Brookings Institute, Portland produces $22.0 billion in total exports. As a share of our total economy, 20.6 percent of what is produced in our region was exported in 2008, supporting 125,626 jobs.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce

Recent export growth from the Portland region has been robust, expanding at 20.2 percent. Average wages in our largest export industry were $91,535, which was considerably higher than the U.S. average. The Portland metropolitan region is home to an increasingly diverse economy with six primary export industry clusters, including manufacturing of Computer and Electronic Products, Primary Metals, Machinery, Transportation Equipment, and Royalties from Intellectual Property.

According to WorkSource Oregon, there were 98,550 manufacturing jobs in Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in September.  This compares to 95,910 workers at the same time one year ago.   Of these, Clackamas and Washington County account for 60 percent of all manufacturing employment in the metropolitan region and 35 percent of the entire state.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce