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EXPORTS REPORT UNDERSCORES NEED TO DIVERSIFY ECONOMY IN BUSINESS THE ECONOMY By Steve Green staff writer The Las Vegas area ranked last among the nation's 100 largest metro areas in the growth of exports from 2009 to 2010, a study released March 7 shows. The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program in Washington, D.C., issued a report highlighting the importance of exports to local economies. Nationwide, Brookings said in the Export Nation report, 2010 was the first year of the economic recovery, and export growth helped create jobs in many U.S. communities. "For many years, most U.S. firms have been focused domestically," Emilia Istrate, senior research analyst and lead author of the report, said in a statement. "They ignored opportunities abroad, particularly in developing nations. That is changing, and that change is important for our future economic sustainability." The Las Vegas numbers didn't match the general national trend of strong export growth in 2010 — 11.4 percent — for a couple reasons. First, even as the national economy improved, Las Vegas was still mired in a deep recession in 2010. Second, the biggest "export" produced by the Las Vegas economy is not a manufactured good. Rather, it's dollars spent in the U.S. gaming capital by foreign tourists. The report said Las Vegas-area exports in 2010 were valued at $7.4 billion, the 36th highest among U.S. metro areas. Of this amount, nearly 52 percent is related to tourism. Within the tourism category, Canadians were the most important market segment, spending $589 million in the city in 2010. Their spending was followed by visitors from Japan, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Brazil. The value of Las Vegas-area exports, including spending by tourists, grew 2.8 percent in 2010, 100th in the nation, Brookings said. That compares with the city's annualized export growth rate of 13.5 percent between 2003 and 2008, during the economic boom. That was the 12th best growth rate in the nation. Illustrating the relatively small role exports of manufactured goods play in the Las Vegas economy, Brookings said exports of all types made up 8.4 percent of the Las Vegas-area gross domestic product in 2010. Las Vegas ranked 72nd in the nation in that category. | 19 MARCH 2012 | Re: Reinvent Asian From: 1 location To: 39 states It takes more than good luck to build a dynasty, but Statewide, the export picture was a bit brighter in 2010, with exports totaling $12 billion and growing 9.6 percent from 2009, Brookings said. Still, the percentage of the state's gross domestic product tied to exports was 9.5 percent, below the national average of 10.7 percent, Brookings said. The Brookings report reinforces comments by observers that Las Vegas and Nevada could do more to boost exports of all types and that boosting exports is key to diversifying the economy. Brookings said four metro areas — Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Minneapolis-St. Paul — have developed metropolitan export plans to "systematically increase sales abroad." There's nothing like that in place in Las Vegas. ® China Bistro had a great menu and experienced counsel in Lewis and Roca to grow from one restaurant in Scottsdale to 193 nationwide. LAS VEGAS RENO PHOENIX TUCSON ALBUQUERQUE SILICON VALLEy LRLAW.COM 11