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U.S. EDA Promotes American Exports in Montana

September 9, 2011
Contact: John Atwood, (202) 482-4085


WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration (EDA) today announced $618,814 in grants in the State of Montana to boost job-creating exports.

"President Obama has committed to doubling America's exports by 2015," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development John Fernandez. "These vital EDA investments will ease the way for Montana companies to grow and create new jobs by encouraging participation in the global marketplace."

The investments announced today include:

  • $320,000 to the Northern Express Transportation Authority of Shelby to help build a critical rail spur to serve the Shelby Intermodal Hub. The spur will allow pea and lentil producers along Montana's Hi-Line to move their product directly to the West Coast for export and will advance delivery of U.S. oilfield products into the rapidly growing Canadian oil sands and oilfield markets.

  • $298,814 to The University of Montana of Missoula to continue the National Export Initiative Support Project, a private-public partnership lead by the Montana World Trade Center to educate businesses throughout Montana about programs, services, and resources available to them to increase their exports of high quality products and services to worldwide markets.

In June, the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee released to Congress the 2011 National Export Strategy: Powering the National Export Initiative. The report reinforces the importance of U.S. exports of goods and services, which in 2010 totaled $1.84 trillion, an increase of nearly 17 percent over 2009 levels, and supported more than 9 million jobs in the United States. The National Export Strategy is available at http://trade.gov and http://export.gov.

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov):

The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation's regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.