For Immediate Release
For information contact:
Dave Howard (541-367-4300)

Editors: You are welcome to use this op-ed piece about Gov. Locke's recent trade mission to Japan and South Korea. The author was a participant on the trip and his bio and photo are available online at
www.wa-grange.org/press_releases/mediakit.htm. This article is available electronically at
www.wa-grange.org/press_releases/2002_07_31.htm.

By Dave Howard
Editor, Wash. State Grange News

There's no disagreement about rural Washington needing more jobs. With current depressed economic conditions, jobs in our small towns and rural areas are at a premium. The real argument erupts when we discuss ways to attract them.

It seems clear enough that the best strategy for rural Washington is to do everything possible to boost sales for products already in abundance in the region. That approach was a guiding principle during the recently completed trade mission to Japan and South Korea. The July 20-27 trip, led by Gov. Gary Locke, was profoundly successful and I was pleased to be a part of the delegation.

Japan and South Korea are already solid trade partners. They know Washington's products well, particularly our agricultural products, and they like them. Our state's wheat, wine, hops, fruit and French fries are prized by consumers in both countries. It makes sense to do everything possible to help them buy more.

Overseas sales don't just happen, however, and Gov. Locke knows that. Whether it's a Boeing airplane, Weyerhaeuser lumber or Columbia Basin potatoes, it takes lots of hard work, relationship building and sales calls to close a deal.

Trade missions are viewed by some as pleasure jaunts that are hardly worth the effort. Our governor has led several, and after spending the week in Asia with him I can say that this mission was all work and no play. Meeting after meeting, our delegation members were engaged in productive talks and initial results are promising: Almost half a million dollars in new sales were finalized during the week with solid prospects for nearly three times that many sales pending. And that's just what's reported so far by only 11 of the 35 participating companies and organizations.

The agricultural representatives, ably led by Valoria Loveland, our new director of Washington's Department of Agriculture, approached the mission in two ways. There were critical face-to-face meetings with key importers of Washington's ag products and equally important discussions with government officials in both Japan and South Korea. Ag producers can't just make the sales; they also have dozens of regulatory hoops to jump through. Smoothing out those wrinkles was part of the mission's focus and what was accomplished on the trip should expedite increased sales in the years ahead.

Time and again I heard from other delegation members that they had doors opened that would have remained shut had the governor not been with us. His presence, and that of Loveland and Martha Choe, director of the State Department of Community, Trade & Economic Development, gave the delegation credibility so that serious negotiations could be conducted.

In my business, which is the newspaper field, we've always heard that when sales are slow the need for advertising increases. That's doubly true right now for businesses in rural Washington, including our agricultural producers. Instead of holding back in order to save some money, we need to be out there promoting our excellent products to potential customers. With Japan and South Korea importing 60-70 percent of their food products, there's no reason why the bulk of that couldn't be coming from our farms and ranches. Trade missions such as the one I joined should be a regular practice rather than the occasional event.