Importance of exports resumes for small manufacturers

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, 97 percent of all exporting manufacturers have fewer than 500 employees (the Small Business Administration definition of a small manufacturer).

While large companies are responsible for 70 percent of the value of exports, smaller companies have learned that export markets are important to their success, too.

The NAM has tracked the exporting experiences of smaller manufacturers for more than a decade. Just as exchange rates affected all U.S. exports, smaller manufacturers were affected as well, leading to a sustained drop in exporting between 1998 and 2001.

The increase in exports by smaller companies, which doubled after 2001, has now exceeded the growth rate of the late 1990s.