Las Vegas exports set record at $2.9B in 2015

The Las Vegas Metro area set a record $2.9 billion for goods exports in 2015, according to a U.S. International Trade Administration report released this month.

Goods exports for the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise metro area increased by 16.2 percent, or $406 million, between 2014 and 2015, the report said.

Although not included in the report’s export numbers, Andrew Edlefsen, Las Vegas director with the U.S. Commercial Service, the export promotional arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce, said that service exports from travel and tourism are a major source of exports in Southern Nevada.

“You can have different kinds of exports, one where you’re shipping a widget overseas, the other is, where we see foreigners buying U.S. services,” said Edlefsen.

A total service exports figure was not immediately available.

Edlefsen described Las Vegas as a “mixed bag” when it came to exports but said construction and medical equipment make up some of the exports. Edlefsen added that an influx of companies moving to Nevada for tax benefits have also spurred export growth.

The U.S. Commercial Service helps U.S. companies find distributors, sales representatives, and brokers, among other partners.

The agency also helps with trade events, trade missions abroad, and with understanding export compliance.

“We understand that finding the right partner to do business with in another country can be troubling sometimes and in a lot of cases can really make or break your success that country,” Edlefsen said.

Robbin Turner is CEO of Sable Systems International, a company headquartered in North Las Vegas that builds precise metabolic measurement systems for labs at public and private research institutions.

The systems most commonly measure the metabolism of rats and mice but have also been used to measure that of fruit flies and whales.

Turner said that approximately 45 percent to 50 percent of sales have come from exports over the last 10 to 15 years.

“We have gotten huge orders from Europe. Europe has been big, China is following,” Turner said.

This year, the company projects that number to dip to about 40 percent because of a new product line that has been rolled out in North America first.

Sable Systems International, which exports to about 33 countries, created a European subsidiary based in Berlin in 2007, to provide service in the same time zone and offer faster technical support.

At the state level, the top five countries that Nevada exported to in 2015 were Switzerland, India, Canada, Mexico and China.

The top merchandise exports for the state in 2015 were primary metal manufacturing, computer/electronic products such as gaming equipment, and minerals and ores such as gold and silver, among other merchandise.

Contact Alexander S. Corey at acorey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0270. Find @acoreynews on Twitter.