Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, expressed disappointment that the President’s budget provided no funding for a successful program to help small businesses sell their goods abroad. Larsen has long championed the State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Program, which is designed to increase the number of small businesses that are exporting, and to increase the value of exports for those small businesses that are currently exporting.

“Major trade agreements may be getting the national spotlight, but in the meantime manufacturers in the Pacific Northwest and across the country are working hard every day to expand into to new markets and get their products into the hands of consumers worldwide. These manufacturers are the lifeblood of our economy with the jobs they create, and helping them grow by selling their goods across the globe should be a priority.

“For an administration that has highlighted trade as a major agenda item and a key way to grow our country’s economy, I am surprised and disappointed the President’s budget proposal left out a highly effective program that helps our local businesses sell their goods, not our jobs, overseas,” Larsen said.

STEP grants have enabled Lynnwood-based Warm Industrial Nonwovens to attend international trade shows and get its products in front of major aerospace manufacturers including Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier and others, resulting in new sales, said company owner Jim Chumbley and sales director Steve Bagwell. “A big part of going to the shows is making connections with the corporate decision makers to then be able to sell to major manufacturers,” they said, adding that Warm Industrial likely would pursue additional assistance from STEP moving forward.

In the first two years of the program, STEP helped 446 small businesses in Washington state with export assistance, resulting in a return of $135 to the state’s economy for every $1 spent, according to the state Department of Commerce. STEP businesses in Washington state have made $161 million in actual sales and $221.5 million in forecasted sales, supporting 2,230 jobs statewide.

STEP was established as a pilot program in 2010. Larsen introduced a bill in 2013 to make the program permanent, and he successfully requested continuing funding for 2014 and 2015.

More information about the STEP Program is available here.

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