25 May 2011
The U.S. Export Assistance Center in Fort Lauderdale has moved its office from downtown to Port Everglades.
The office now is located at the seaport’s administration building at 1850 Eller Drive. It helps companies with assistance such as research on markets abroad, finding distributors overseas and organizing trips overseas to meet potential business partners.
"Port Everglades is very important in helping us achieve the President's National Export Initiative goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years, supporting several million American jobs," said Francisco J. Sánchez, a top U.S. Commerce official inaugurating the new office earlier this month. "America's seaports are ..the nexus between the United States and the global economy."
The relocation of the office has sparked Broward County leaders to increase outreach to small- and mid-sized firms to expand sales abroad. One plank in that push: encouraging existing exporters to sell to more countries, officials said.
The South Florida area, including seaports and airports from Key West to Fort Pierce, posted a $22 billion trade surplus last year, shipping out far more to foreign markets that it imported. Port Everglades shipped out $11 billion in goods overseas to rank No. 11 among U.S. seaports for exports last year, the seaport said in a statement.
To contact the new U.S. Export Assistance Center at Port Everglades, call 954-356-6640.
For more information on Port Everglades, visit www.porteverglades.net.