Export growth slows, but doesn't stop, for area firms

by Ann Bucy

SBJ Contributing Writer

Local exporters report that their international business interests remain strong despite the international financial crises.

The Paul Mueller Company manufactures stainless processing equipment to be sold to wine, pharmaceutical, dairy, food, beverage, chemical and refrigeration companies.

"We export to 50 countries and have equipment in about a hundred of them," said Robert Hetherington, president of Mueller's international division. "Twenty to 25 percent of our business is outside the United States. This year, we're approaching $90 million in sales; $20 million of that is from exports."

The major countries Mueller exports to are Japan (which is No. 1), Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom.

"Geographically, we're diversified," Hetherington said. "Our major regions are Asia, Europe and Central America."

How has the world financial crisis affected Mueller? "We shifted our resources, and we traveled to areas we hadn't been to before," he said. "When some areas were affected, we looked to other more productive regions, But it's important to keep a presence in those areas you sell to. We held our own during the crisis."

Meanwhile, Positronic Industries, a manufacturer of electronic connectors and connector systems, reports growth in exports has slowed, but is still occurring.

"Our customers are satellite manufacturers where a signal is being sent around the world," said Jack Gentry, the company's founder and chairman of the board. "The reflections from the satellite are also used in making long-distance calls. They also sell to telephone and other communications industries (for high-speed transmissions like faxes and long-distance bank transfers) and the military uses them in the cockpits of their aircraft, with body scanning machines, like X-ray machines, and for use in high-speed computers," Gentry said.

Gentry said his company sells these systems all over the world. "We're a multinational company with factories in France, Singapore, Puerto Rico and England."

Have the financial crises of other coutries affected Positronic? "It is affecting manufacturing in the Far East, and our growth in Europe has slowed considerably," he said. "It's flattened out our overall growth, too. We're growing, but it's slight now."[[In-content Ad]]