CITY HALL'S INVOLVEMENT IN
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND EXPORT PROMOTION

By GEORGE H. RYAN — Lieutenant Governor

Whether it is marketing goal, selling agricultural products or promoting foreign investment and tourism, Illinois' economic base and prosperity is connected to international trade. International trade has become vital to the future health of our economy and should not be disregarded by local government officials as a source for new jobs, increased tax revenues and an overall stable economy. With significant shifts of unemployment, dislocation of businesses and industries, export promotion has become a valuable tool in a municipality's economic development effort.

One reason why communities should investigate export promotion as a significant source in economic development is because it can enhance both State and local revenues through job creation. According to a U.S. Department of Commerce estimate, exports of $1 billion create between 25,000 to 32,000 new jobs, jobs mostly found in small and medium-sized businesses. (In the past few years, Illinois has rung up over $19 billion annually in exporting agricultural commodities and manufactured goods, creating and providing nearly 500,000 jobs for its citizens.) Because of this expansion, new capital sources have been established for many communities and hopefully more will occur when local governments help identify new and additional exporting means for their localities.

Not to say that municipalities do not involve themselves with export promotion and development but, traditionally. State and local governments have been relegated to the sidelines in international trading, seemingly lacking both in motivation and the constitutional latitude to play a role in events beyond the nation's borders. Global economic interdependence, though, has overlapped the division of governmental responsibilities in the U.S. Federal system and has increased State involvement in exporting.

Illinois and its communities have taken advantage of the overlapping division in governmental responsibilities by capturing some of the benefits exporting contributes to the economic health of an area.

The Lieutenant Governor's Office realizes the importance of exporting and has involved itself in assisting local communities harness their exporting potential as an economic development tool. The Office attempts to help local governments become more aware of its community's exporting capabilities by advising them about the opportunities in export development and

February 1986 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 15

promotion. More important, there are several mechanisms which municipalities can use to expand current export promotion programs or begin to enter the exporting market arena.

In 1983, the Illinois General Assembly created the Illinois Export Council to help the State's export market. Chaired by the Lieutenant Governor, the 19-member council serves as the directing and coordinating body for the Department of Commerce and Community Affair's international business activities. Its goal is to ensure export promotion among Illinois' small businesses. The Council's companion body — the Illinois Export Development Authority — was created to provide financial assistance to small and medium-sized businesses seeking to enter the international market or expand existing operations. Through this help, new capital will be made available to Illinois' financial institutions used for their community's involvement in exporting products.

Local government can enhance community awareness in export promotion through the newly established Export Development Internship Program. Public Act 84-655 authorizes the Illinois Export Council to develop and administer an export development internship program. This program will place university students or recent graduates with Illinois businesses or governmental agencies involved in or wishing to become involved in international trade. A local government's role would be to possibly hire those students after their internship to provide community business development councils with extra assistance in their attempts to help small and medium-sized businesses break into exporting.

Upcoming seminars in small business and export development is another way municipalities can learn to effectively promote their products in the international arena. The Lieutenant Governor's Office will schedule these seminars for winter and spring in twenty-one Illinois cities to help them establish or expand the export potentials that exist. They will provide information to companies on how to successfully market the products and increase the potential for better profits. Information can be obtained by contacting the Lieutenant Governor's Chicago Office at 800/252-6584.

These devices, under the auspices of the Lieutenant Governor's Office, attempt to influence more local community and government involvement in export creation and promotion by providing a channel of information and assistance to the business community. In as much as our Federal government has an important trade role, it is those people in local government who are closest to the businessmen and women who are able to best assist them. Only by informing and educating the business sector about the advantages of exporting will a community be able to enhance the prospect of exporting — eventually heading to a greater intake of revenue and a likelihood of new jobs.

The Lieutenant Governor's role is also to advance a greater understanding of the State's export development programs through his "outreach" trips to municipalities this year. He will be visiting many cities and towns again in 1986, providing a full-line of information on how a community can become a factor in determining Illinois' economy. With this cooperation between State and local government, the prospects for expanded production, higher business profits, jobs and increased tax revenues can help to ensure greater economic prosperity throughout Illinois. •

Page 16 / Illinois Municipal Review / February 1986