*Information regarding parent company countries is current as of 2006.
Exports Support Jobs for Maryland's Workers
Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 1.6 percent of Maryland's total private-sector employment. One-tenth (10.3 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Maryland depend on exports for their jobs (2009 data latest available).
Exports Sustain Thousands of Maryland Businesses
A total of 4,354 companies exported goods from Maryland locations in 2008. Of those, 3,799 (87 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees. SMEs generated one-third (34 percent) of Maryland's total exports of merchandise in 2008.
Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Maryland
In 2008, foreign-controlled companies employed 108,600 Maryland workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Maryland in 2008 included Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France. Foreign investment in Maryland was responsible for 5.1 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2008.
Maryland Depends on World Markets
Maryland's export shipments of merchandise in 2010 totaled $10.2 billion. The state's largest market was Canada. Maryland posted merchandise exports of $1.6 billion to Canada in 2010, 16 percent of the state’s total merchandise exports. Canada was followed by the Netherlands ($677 million), China ($574 million), Saudi Arabia ($499 million), and Mexico ($488 million). The state's largest merchandise export category is transportation equipment, which accounted for $2.2 billion of Maryland's total merchandise exports in 2010. Other top merchandise exports are chemicals manufactures ($2.0 billion), computers and electronic products ($1.2 billion), machinery manufactures ($1.2 billion), and primary metals manufactures ($620 million).
Maryland's Metropolitan Exports
In 2009, the metropolitan area of Baltimore-Towson exported $4.8 billion in merchandise, 60.5 percent of Maryland's total merchandise exports. Another major metropolitan area in Maryland that exported in 2009 was Salisbury ($452 million). Two major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in Maryland. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (including some parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware) exported $19.1 billion, while Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (including some parts of the District of Columbia, Virginia, and West Virginia) exported $9.2 billion in merchandise in 2009.
The above narrative was taken from the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration. (Release June 2011)
Examples of Recent Foreign Investments in Maryland:
- 13 new companies based across Europe and Asia have opened offices in Maryland since August 2008; this new investment is projected to create 150 jobs. Read more here.
- September 2007 - Deutsche Post (Germany) is investing $1.60 Mn in the city of Baltimore in the transportation sector in a logistics project, creating 30 jobs. DHL’s previous operations at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport have been enhanced with the opening of a new, $1.6 million on-airport facility. The new 18,663 sq.ft. facility will also handle additional routes and features additional load positions to accommodate more vehicles and volumes of freight.
- April 2007 - Intel-iguard (UK) is investing in the city of Rockville in the software & IT services sector in a sales, marketing & support project, creating 30 jobs.
- November 2006 - BP (UK) is investing $70 Mn in the city of Frederick in the alternative/renewable energy sector in a manufacturing project, creating 70 jobs.