Officials aim to double metro Portland's exports to $42 billion in five years
22.05.12
City officials and the Brookings Institution will unveil a strategy Wednesday to try doubling metropolitan Portland's exports in five years, adding $21 billion in foreign sales.
The surge could create more than 100,000 jobs, according to Greater Portland Inc., the Portland-Vancouver economic development organization that will coordinate the effort.
Officials designed the Greater Portland Metro Export Strategy, one of four pilot projects in the nation, to reform dysfunctional export-promotion efforts scattered among federal, state and local entities. The idea is to help exporters boost sales and recruit companies to reach customers in fast-growing foreign economies.
Sponsors acknowledge they will conduct the first-of-a-kind program on the cheap, with a $200,000 annual budget for Greater Portland Inc. to coordinate efforts among existing players.
"We're not counting on an airlift of federal money for this to happen," Portland Mayor Sam Adams said. "It's about
Source: OregonLive.com