eBay Seller Mac Griffiths, Salt Lake County Mayor McAdams and Director of Regional Economic Development for Salt Lake County Stuart Clason

This week the eBay Government Relations and Utah eBay seller, Mac Griffiths, attended the formal release of the Salt Lake Regional Export Plan – an ambitious effort through the Global Cities Initiative led by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and the World Trade Center Utah aimed at increasing small and medium business export activities:  

"We want to embark upon new economic development efforts with an eye toward true market expansion which mean bridging the divide between international marketplaces and our small to medium size business community" – Salt Lake County Mayor McAdams

Through eBay’s involvement on the Steering Committee, this effort has acknowledged the role that platforms like eBay play in breaking down traditional barriers to trade through technology and unique product offerings, particularly for small businesses.  eBay’s own data as generated by the Policy Lab has found that Utah small businesses that sell on eBay reach—on average—19 foreign destination markets.   And, for Utah eBay businesses with sales of $10,000 or more, 98 percent of them exported products in 2014.  That compares to only 4 percent of traditional U.S. businesses!

 The Export Plan’s strategies of particular interest to the eBay community include:

• Supporting technology that reduces barriers to glob­al markets and partner with providers of Inter­net-enabled small and medium-sized enterprises; and
• Supporting legislation and regulatory changes to modernize U.S. export policies, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership

eBay applauds Mayor McAdams, the World Trade Center Utah, the Brookings Institution and other Global Cities Steering Committee partners on the release of this comprehensive plan.  We’re thrilled it highlights the unique and critical role that e-commerce platforms, like eBay, play in helping small businesses reach international markets and encourages passage of trade agreements from which eBay users stand to benefit.