Rhode Island’s high-tech exports grew 12 percent in 2007, according to a new report from AeA, formerly known as the American Electronics Association.
The total value of high-tech exports in Rhode Island was $306 million in 2007, up from $273 million in 2006 and $239 million in 2005, the report said. The Ocean State saw the 12th-highest increase in high-tech exports of any state or territory surveyed last year.
Saul Kaplan, executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, called the report “very good news” for the state.
“It’s a very tough economy right now – a lot of businesses are really struggling,” Kaplan said. “It’s important to take notice of the strength that’s emerging in the technology-driven sector. The IT sector is a particularly strong performer right now, and we need to accelerate that because those are the good, high-wage jobs that bring the employment rate down, help strengthen the economy, and help us better withstand economic downturns.”
The AeA said 902 jobs in Rhode Island are related to the high-tech industry, compared with 30,280 jobs in Massachusetts and 5,561 in Connecticut.
By contrast, Massachusetts saw its tech exports fall 9 percent in 2007 to $8.7 billion, the report said.
Tech exports made up about one-fifth of Rhode Island’s total exports last year, the AeA said. In only 17 other states and territories do high-tech exports make up a larger share of the total.
On the other hand, high-tech exports make up a greater share of exports in every other New England state except Connecticut, where high-tech accounts for 14 percent of exports.
However, high-tech exports in Rhode Island were still down 31 percent from 2001, when the figure reached $444 million. They also were lower than in 2003 and 2004, when they totaled $338 million and $330 million, respectively. Kaplan said he was not sure what the reason was for the drop.
In 2007, the state’s top tech export sector was once again computers and related equipment, which surged to $124 million from $90 million the prior year.
Trailing behind the computer sector were electrical components, which grew $2 million to $66 million; industrial electronics, which increased $4 million to $64 million; communications equipment, which shrank by $1 million to $25 million; and semiconductors, which saw sales fall by more than one-third, to $10 million.
The study found that the bulk of Rhode Island’s tech exports in 2007 went to Canada, which bought $47.7 million, and the United Kingdom, which bought $28.3 million. Filling out the top five were Germany ($14.5 million), Mexico ($14.4 million) and France ($13.6 million).
With more than $50 million in high-tech exports to the European Union during 2007, the findings highlight the high stakes for Rhode Island as the U.S. and Europe continue to squabble over the future of the Information Technology Agreement, the 1996 accord that freed up global trade in IT products.
AeA, formerly the American Electronics Association, is a nationwide trade association founded in 1943 for all segments of the technology industry. For additional information – including the AeA’s 148-page report, “Cybercities 2008: An Overview of the High-tech Industry in the Nation’s Top 60 Cities” – visit www.AeAnet.org.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
