Van Buren Company Receives Presidential Award for Exports
by June 9, 2014 12:00 am 85 views
A Van Buren company has been presented with the highest recognition given in the United States for contributing to the expansion of U.S. exports.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker presented Knesek Guns Inc. with the President’s “E” Award for Exports during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., attended by KGI senior vice president Max Rodriguez and KGI president and CEO Larry Knesek.
Founded in 2003, KGI is a wholesaler and retailer of military and law enforcement type weapons.
“E” Awards are given based on four years of successive export growth, buoyed by case studies that illustrated measurable export increases for clients.
This year, 47 companies were honored with the “E” Award for Exports for demonstrating a sustained increase in export sales throughout several years.
According the U.S. Department of Commerce, total U.S. exports and goods and services hit an all-time record of $2.3 trillion in 2013.
In Arkansas, export shipments of merchandise in 2013 totaled $7.2 billion.
The state’s largest market was Canada, with merchandise exports of $1.6 billion in 2013, representing 21.8 percent of the state’s total merchandise exports.
Canada was followed by Mexico ($870 million), China ($683 million), France ($605 million), and Hong Kong ($274 million).