DeWITT — Central New York firms should strongly consider pursuing global sales to generate additional revenue. And, local businesses that are prospering selling overseas are here to share their experiences.

That was the message of a recent press event put on by the newly relaunched Central New York International Business Alliance (CNYIBA).

Inficon, Inc., a Switzerland–based company that operates a local office in DeWitt, shared its exporting success story.

Exporting plays a “special role” in the economic ecosystem of a region, Peter Maier, president of Inficon, said during his remarks at the press event held Oct. 24 at Inficon’s local office.

Exports now account for close to 70 cents of every dollar of every product that is made at Inficon’s DeWitt facility, Maier said. The firm generates revenue from sales to customers in Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, and many other countries, he added.

“We export close to $70 million worth of products every year, with much of this money being spent locally on service providers and our employees. This new money now circulates through our local economy and helps grow and strengthen our region as it spreads around,” Maier said.

Inficon produces sensor technologies, advanced process-control software, gas analyzers, leak detectors, and portable chemical-identification systems used in emergency response, environmental health and safety, semiconductor, air conditioning, refrigeration and automotive-manufacturing industries.

Exporting and creating demand for products in international markets can lead to job creation, Maier said.

Inficon has added more than 50 “high value” jobs since 2009. Export growth has been a “big driver” behind the hiring and has helped retain existing jobs, Maier said.

From Inficon’s view, the U.S. economy isn’t growing as fast as others around the globe.

“For example, over the last 10 years, Inficon’s export growth has been at roughly three times the rate that our U.S. sales have grown. Exporting is the only way to participate in faster growth in other parts of the world unless we want to export the jobs with the products,” Maier said.

President Barack Obama in his 2010 State of the Union address set a goal for the United States to double its exports by 2015. Inficon “doubled” its exports by the end of 2012, Maier said.

As a result, the U.S. Department of Commerce on May 20 awarded Inficon the President’s “E” Award for Exports, the “highest recognition any U.S. entity may receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports,” according to the Inficon website.

The department presented the award to a total of 57 firms, Inficon said.

Maier encourages businesses of all sizes across Central New York to explore the possibility of exporting their goods to international markets.

Helping local companies accomplish that task is the purpose of the CNYIBA, he noted.

About the CNYIBA

The CNYIBA seeks to help the region position itself to achieve the goals that the president and the IBA have outlined, and through CenterState CEO’s Metropolitan Export Initiative, David Mankiewicz, senior vice president and director of infrastructure and urban activities at CenterState CEO, said in his remarks at the Oct. 24 event.

“You might recall, a couple years ago, the Brookings Institution picked Syracuse as one of four pilot cities to launch Metropolitan Export Initiatives. And that really put us in quite a spotlight. It drew attention to the work we’re doing here,” Mankiewicz said.

The CNYIBA is seen as the “implementation vehicle” to achieve the goal outlined in the initiative, released in April 2012.

The organization intends to work with the region’s most experienced exporters and help them reach out into additional markets.

It also wants to work with those small- and medium-sized businesses that might export, but only to a few foreign markets. The CNYIBA also seeks to help the new-to-export companies break into those markets, he said.

“And we don’t want to forget our service providers, because within our particular market, both health care and education have great potential to be new sources of exports,” Mankiewicz said.

This region, collectively, currently has about $8.7 billion worth of exports, Mankiewicz said. But even with that dollar figure, the Central New York region is an “underperformer,” he added.

Mankiewicz, his colleagues at CenterState CEO, and the CNYIBA believe the region’s companies have “a lot of potential” to raise the export market from this region and from this country.

To capture more of that global market, the Central New York region must “boost its international orientation and become more globally engaged,” he said.

Mankiewicz contends local economic developers and the CNYIBA need the “buy in” of the business community to reach that goal.

“And that’s why we encourage businesses of all sizes to make exporting a strategic priority and to get involved with the new CNYIBA,” he said.

The relaunch of CNYIBA follows the 2011 development of the CenterState Export Plan, which a group of regional partners devised with the Brookings Institution, a private, Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit organization that focuses on independent research.

The plan called for a lead agency to provide export services and guidance to local companies, and the CNYIBA holds the designation, the organization said.

The CNYIBA dates back to the mid-1990s, and, in assuming its new role in guiding local companies in the exporting process, the organization has “transitioned,” Mankiewicz said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com