Governor Honors Four Arkansas Exporters

Four Arkansas companies were honored on Wednesday (May 23) for exporting goods and services throughout the world.

Gov. Mike Beebe presented the companies with the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Global Trade during an awards luncheon at the Governor’s Mansion.

This year’s winners are:
Large Agribusiness – Riceland Foods, Inc. (Stuttgart)
Small/Medium Manufacturer Exporter – Coleman Dairy (Little Rock)
Small/Medium Services Exporter – Trump Tours, Inc. (Bentonville)
Small/Medium Agribusiness & Governor’s E Star Award – Keith Smith Company (Hot Springs)

“The success of these four companies shows that using innovation in reaching international markets can build your overall success,” Beebe said. “Whether large or small, Arkansas businesses have tools available to take their entrepreneurship onto the

global stage.”

Judging criteria was based on factors such as most recent percentage of export sales to total sales, growth of export sales over the past three years, the company's goals and commitments internationally and the number of jobs saved or created due to the company's export performance if applicable.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Arkansas’s export shipments of merchandise in 2011 totaled more than $5.6 billion. The state’s largest trade partners in 2011 were Canada ($1.3 billion), Mexico ($679 million), China ($413 million) and Japan ($213 million).

This is the third year for the program which is co-sponsored by the Arkansas District Export Council, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, U. S. Commercial Service Export Assistance Center Arkansas, and the Arkansas World Trade Center.