Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 23, 1993 TAG: 9304230201
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
\ Change in national policy - from containing communism to competing in world economies - means U.S. companies must search for opportunities in overseas markets, former Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles said Thursday.
After 40 years of world leadership leading to unprecedented economic growth, "it is time to compete with the world - not against it but within it," Baliles told the Blue Ridge Export Conference in Roanoke.
Whether a business is in Roanoke or overseas, it must learn new markets and invest in new products that sell, "and you need to dig deep into your reservoir of patience," he said in a keynote address.
More competition is more likely to reduce international tension than protectionism and economic retaliation ever did, Baliles said. He travels the world as head of the international practice group of Hunton & Williams of Richmond, the state's largest law firm.
Entering world trade, Baliles said, means business leaders, government officials and students must know geography and understand the cultures of trading partners.
Foreign languages should be taught early, college graduates should know a second language and teacher education in international studies should be strengthened, he said.
Virginia's economy is generating about $8 billion in annual export sales - 10 to 15 percent of what it ought to be - said April Young, director of the state's Economic Development Department.
A billion dollars in exports should create 14,000 jobs, she said. Virginia last year had 130,000 jobs in companies that exported.
The Roanoke region, Young said, has "an extraordinary future" in international markets. Also, she said, the number of companies thinking about coming to Virginia has picked up since the first of the year. "Many companies look first" at the Roanoke and New River valleys, she said.
The conference at the Sheraton Inn Roanoke Airport was sponsored by the Blue Ridge Economic Development Commission and Virginia Tech. Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, the conference leader, said he expects it to become an annual event.
Officials of four companies - Timber Truss Housing Systems in Salem, FiberCom in Roanoke, Bacova Ltd. in Bath County and the Lane Co. of Altavista - described their growing overseas markets:
Timber Truss ships walls, doors and other housing components designed "to meet the cultural demands" of customers in Germany, Israel, Greece and Japan, said Gary Saunders, a vice president. Exports accounted for 30 percent of sales in a sluggish economy in 1991, he said.
FiberCom provides optical fiber links for Norway banks and shipped other products to Mexico and South America last year, said Ed Schaffner, international sales manager. A new $5.8 million contract for a network in entertainment systems for jet planes accounted for 25 percent of total revenue, he said.
Bacova, Bath County's only industry, expects to add 80 to 100 jobs if its export sales go from 8 percent to 15 percent of projected five-year total revenue, said President Ben Johns. The company sells welcome mats and mailboxes in more than 35 countries.
Lane Co. Vice President Donald Tucker said the furniture maker planned to negotiate with a German buying group and a Japanese agent later Thursday. His company's export market "is small but growing," he said.
Canadians are the leading international visitors to Virginia, said Matt Gaffney, international marketing director for the state Tourism Division. The estimate of annual tourism revenue for the state, he said, is $90 million from overseas visitors and $75 million from Canadians.
by CNB