Virginia may boast one of the premier ports on the East Coast and one of the premier international airports in the country, but Virginia’s metropolitan regions are not very plugged into the global economy. According to the Brookings Institution’s “Metropolitan Exports Dashboard,” the percentage of GDP accounted for by exports in the Washington, Hampton Roads and Richmond economies is less than 10%. That’s too bad because export-related jobs tend to be better paid than non-export jobs.
I’m old enough to remember when Jerry Baliles was governor. He saw exports and Foreign Direct Investment as the key to economic development for Virginia. He led numerous overseas trade missions and he emphasized the teaching of geography in Virginia schools. He helped launch other initiatives to make Virginians more cosmopolitan in their thinking, such the Japan-Virginia society, which at one time was a very active organization. Since the late 1980s, Virginians have become more insular. Governors lead fewer missions overseas. Virginia’s eonomy has suffered the downside of globalization — our apparel, textile and furniture industries have been obliterated — but my sense is that Virginia businesses have not taken full advantage of the opportunities that globalization offers. Our loss.
Update: The Governor’s office issued this press release noting that Virginia agricultural exports increased 6% in 2011, reaching record levels. The exports totaled $2.35 billion in value. Presumably, agricultural exports are not captured in the metropolitan statistics cited by Brookings: Urban areas don’t have a lot of farms and woodlands.
— JAB
