Vermont: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Vermont's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 8.6 percent of Vermont's total private-sector employment, the seventh highest figure among the 50 states. Over one-quarter (28.8 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Vermont depend on exports for their jobs, the third highest figure among the 50 states. (2008 data are the latest available.)

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 2008 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: 2006.

Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.

Back to top of Vermont report

Exports Sustain Hundreds of Vermont Businesses

A total of 963 companies exported goods from Vermont locations in 2007. Of those, 831 (86 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated 14 percent of Vermont's total exports of merchandise in 2007.

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.

Back to top of Vermont report

Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Vermont

In 2007, foreign-controlled companies employed 9,800 workers in Vermont. Major sources of Vermont's jobs in 2007 were Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

More than 23 percent of these jobs (2,300 workers) were employed in the manufacturing sector in 2007. Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 6.5 percent of total manufacturing employment in Vermont in 2007.

Foreign investment in Vermont was responsible for 3.7 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2007.

Note: All figures exclude employment in banks affiliated with foreign companies.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Back to top of Vermont report

Vermont Depends on World Markets

Vermont's export shipments of merchandise in 2009 totaled $3.2 billion.

The state's largest market in 2009 by far was Canada, which received exports of $1.5 billion (46 percent) of Vermont's merchandise export total. Canada was followed by Hong Kong ($258 million), China ($221 million), Malaysia ($184 million), and Japan ($181 million).

Among manufactured products, the state's leading export category is computers and electronic products, which accounted for $2.3 billion (74 percent) of Vermont's total merchandise exports in 2009. Other top manufactured exports that year were machinery manufactures ($149 million), paper products ($102 million), and processed foods ($87 million).

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.

Back to top of Vermont report

Vermont's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2008, the metropolitan area of Burlington-South Burlington exported $1.5 billion in merchandise, 86 percent of Vermont's total merchandise 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.

Back to top of Vermont report