Exports Support Jobs for Montana's Workers
Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 2.3 percent of Montana's total private-sector employment. Nearly one-sixth (15.6 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Montana depend on exports for their jobs (2009 data latest available).
Exports Sustain Hundreds of Montana Businesses
A total of 752 companies exported from Montana locations in 2009. Of those, 656 (87 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
Small and medium-sized firms generated over half (53 percent) of Montana's total exports of merchandise in 2009.
Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Montana
In 2009, foreign-controlled companies employed more than 5,000 Montana workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Montana in 2009 included the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Japan.
Montana Depends on World Markets
Montana's export shipments of merchandise in 2010 totaled $1.4 billion.
The state's largest market was Canada. Montana posted merchandise exports of $506 million to Canada in 2010, 36 percent of the state’s total merchandise exports. Canada was followed by Korea ($187 million), China ($123 million), Japan ($110 million), and Taiwan ($93 million).
The state's largest merchandise export category is chemicals manufactures, which accounted for $369 million of Montana's total merchandise exports in 2010. Other top merchandise exports are machinery manufactures ($221 million), mining ($156 million), transportation equipment ($138 million), and primary metals manufactures ($124 million).
Montana's Metropolitan Exports
In 2009, the metropolitan area of Billings exported $71 million in merchandise, 6.3 percent of Montana's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Montana that exported in 2009 included Great Falls ($69 million), and Missoula ($25 million).
Exports Support Jobs
Note: Export-related employment data shown do not include manufacturing and non-manufacturing jobs involved in the export of non-manufactured goods, such as farm products, minerals, and services sold to foreign buyers. Indirect exports exclude imported items. The complete 2009 export-related employment series is available on our Export Related Jobs pages. Additional information on methodology used in the export-related employment series can be found in the U.S. Census Bureau's publication Exports from Manufacturing Establishments: 2009.
Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.
Exports Sustain Businesses
Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.
Foreign Investment
Note: All figures exclude employment in banks affiliated with foreign companies.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Trade with World Markets
Source: Revised Origin of Movement State Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.
Caution: The Origin of Movement series allocates exports to states based on transportation origin, i.e., the state from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a state should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement state export figures.
Metropolitan Exports
Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Metropolitan Export Series.
Caution: The Origin of Movement zip-based series allocates exports to metropolitan areas based on transportation origin, i.e., the metropolitan area from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a metropolitan area should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement zip-based export figures.
Prepared by the Office of Trade and Industry Information, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Data updated December 5, 2011.
Click here to return to the list of all the state "Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment" reports.