Exports showcase economic diversity

A southwest Missouri agriculture company is playing a key role in the recent surge in Missouri exports, and recent data show the area holds the No. 4 share of statewide exports.

Following the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s report that Missouri export sales increased 35 percent to nearly $13 billion in 2010 compared to 2009, Forsyth-based National Enzyme Co. was named Agriculture Exporter of the Year by the Missouri Department of Agriculture. The company, which produces and ships enzyme blends for dietary supplements to 42 countries, exported $5.5 million in 2010.
Missouri agriculture exports topped $421 million in 2010.

In terms of total exports, Springfield is the fourth-largest metropolitan area with $1.15 billion sold between 2006 and 2009, according to recently released Missouri Economic Research and Information Center data. The five-county area is behind the St. Louis, Kansas City and St. Joseph markets.

From Forsyth to Switzerland
So, how does a company in small-town Forsyth become a widespread international player? NEC president and owner Tony Collier points to his staff and participation in foreign trade seminars.

Collier said state government programs help Missouri exporters, for instance, by picking up half the tab for international seminars and conferences held all over the world.

Agriculture Director John Hagler said the department’s participation in national support networks allows Missouri exporters to take advantage of available funds.

“Missouri’s memberships in U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperator groups, such as the Food Export Association of the Midwest, provide Missouri food exporters with access to export promotion reimbursement funding,” Hagler said via e-mail.

NEC sells its enzymes to domestic and international customers that incorporate them into their foods or food products. The company, which has grown revenues at an average rate of 28 percent a year, also acts as a private-label manufacturer adding vitamins and medicinal qualities to products such as antacids.

NEC chooses to exclusively ship by air, outsourcing its delivery to “freight forwarders,” Collier said. The company’s cargo is locked in Forsyth before getting loaded on to trucks that ship out of the airports in Branson or Springfield. This allows the 110-employee company to focus on production while its three-member international sales team, which speaks Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin, targets the next foreign trade conference, Collier said.

An upcoming seminar in Geneva, Switzerland, is on the team’s radar.

Diversity in goods
Springfield-based International Dehydrated Foods Inc. works closely with sister company American Dehydrated Foods through its Monett production facility to supply chicken-based products, including dried meat, broth and fat powders, to clients in 31 countries. The ingredients are used in such items as ramen noodles, frozen meals and soups.

President and CEO Kurt Hellweg said IDF’s international sales grew by 26 percent in fiscal 2010, following a 19 percent spike in 2009. He said total sales reached $76 million in 2010, helping the company earn Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Exporter of the Year title last fall.

Hellweg said IDF largely trucks its products to six U.S. ports before they are shipped to customers in Asia and South America.

Both Hellweg and Collier list the maze of international regulations among the largest headaches for their companies.

In China, for example, Hellweg said the government demands that IDF’s trucks steer clear of states such as Arkansas that have reported a single case of bird flu.

“Each country has something different in terms of requirements, and it’s a mountain sometimes,” Hellweg said.

The company exports out of Los Angeles; Seattle; Gulfport, Miss.; Miami; Norfolk, Va.; and New York City.

Nearly every Missouri export category increased last year, led by sharp gains in transportation equipment, $3 billion; chemicals, $2.7 billion; and machinery, except electrical, $1.4 billion.

Transportation equipment gains were driven by a 94 percent increase in aerospace exports, while a 57 percent increase in basic chemicals was the primary driver in chemical exports, the top two Missouri exports in 2010.

“The diversity of Missouri is on display when you take a look at Missouri exports,” said John Fougere, the Missouri DED’s communications director.

Fougere said the DED connects potential international customers with Missouri exporters. For example, in 2009, Pacific-based Mel Bay Publishing Co. reached out to the DED to help it find oversees publishers interested in its music books for high school students and aspiring musicians. Recently, the company and the DED learned that People’s Publishing House in China, the country’s largest music publishing house, would work with Mel Bay to produce hundreds of thousands of books.

Fougere said 97 percent of exports in the U.S. come from small- to medium-size businesses, but their exports only represent 30 percent of the total value of goods being exported.

“We are applying for a federal grant to assist some of these small and midsize firms with their export needs,” Fougere said. “Nearly two-thirds only sell to one foreign market, so many of these firms could boost exports by expanding the number of countries that they sell to. That’s where our department likes to step in.”

Jack Stack, CEO of SRC Holdings Corp., which operates 23 companies producing roughly $400 million in annual revenues across a variety of industries including agricultural, industrial, construction and automotive markets, said it’s a great time to be an exporter in Missouri.

“The global economy is expanding at such a rapid rate that it’s providing opportunities for all of us,” Stack said. “As we begin to see the middle class rising in the other developed countries, they’re obviously buying more and they’re buying more American products.”

He said at least five of his businesses export, representing around $10 million in 2010 revenues.[[In-content Ad]]