NEWS

Markell tells Delaware companies to look overseas

Jonathan Starkey
The News Journal

DOVER – Gov. Jack Markell on Tuesday told business leaders that they must look for opportunities in markets overseas, saying exporting is key to economic growth for Delaware and companies doing business here.

Markell spoke to business leaders gathered at Delaware Technical Community College in Dover for the annual legislative brunch and manufacturing conference hosted by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.

"Plenty of economies around the world are growing faster than our own," Markell said in prepared remarks. "Billions of new middle class consumers are being added globally over the next 15 years and they will create trillions in new wealth outside of the United States."

Markell said just 1 percent of U.S. companies export, and among those, 60 percent do business with just one country.

The governor on Tuesday unveiled a new website, global.delaware.gov, that promotes Delaware as a place to do international business. A new report from the Delaware Department of State identified Mexico, Canada, Germany and South Korea as markets likely to be most lucrative for Delaware businesses, Markell said.

State officials will lead trade missions to those markets over the next 18 months, offering Delaware companies a chance to make connections there.

The state is also offering new services, including export counseling, market studies​ and business match-making meetings, Markell said.

Markell's new exporting effort comes as Delaware has seen economic progress in recent months, with the unemployment rate here falling to 4.8 percent in February, the first time it has registered below 5 percent since mid-2008.

Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.