Export opportunities

Price Pump Co. began business in Sonoma in 1948, making pumps for the U.S. farming industry.

But the small manufacturer had no global presence until 1999, when it found a way to crack the export market.

"Now, we sell all over the world," said Bob Piazza, the company's president.

Today, international sales account for 20 percent of Price Pump's $9 million in annual revenue.

Just like Price Pump, more Sonoma County businesses are looking to grow their exports. A weak dollar may be bad news for Americans traveling abroad, but it is fueling exports by making U.S. products cheaper to buy overseas.

U.S. exports grew at a 2.8 percent pace in the first quarter, according to figures released last week. Although slower than initially projected, exports are helping to prop up the U.S. economy, which grew only 0.9 percent during the same period.

"We may be in a recession, but the rest of the world is booming," said Ben Stone, director of Sonoma County's Economic Development Board. "That represents a real opportunity for us."

Businesses can learn more about global markets on Friday at a seminar in Santa Rosa sponsored by the Bay Area Center for International Trade Development. Nitish Singh, a business professor at Chico State University, will show how companies can use the Internet to reach potential customers in other parts of the world.

Wine and technology are Sonoma County's top international exports, said Steve Cochrane, an analyst at Moody's Economy.com, a Pennsylvania-based research firm that tracks the local economy.

"We see exports rising as a share of the economy," Cochrane said.

Other sectors also are benefiting from the global appetite for U.S. goods and services, according to Stone. The county's tourist attractions are gaining business as the devalued dollar makes Wine Country travel a bargain for foreign visitors, he said.

Meanwhile, international business is becoming simpler because of the Internet, free trade agreements and growing standardization of import rules.

"The Internet has made it easier in terms of speeding up the whole process," Cochrane said.

In an April survey, three out of four Sonoma County companies said they had increased their international sales over the past two years, according to the Economic Development Board.

Europe is the county's largest international trading partner, followed by Canada, Mexico and Asia.

Price Pump, which has 34 workers in Sonoma, focused on the U.S. market for 50 years before going global.

During the 1980s, the privately held business shifted from agricultural pumps to specialized pumps designed for chemicals, industrial lasers, semiconductor manufacturing, filtration, environmental cleanup and other tech applications.

But the centrifugal pumps operated on a U.S. electric frequency, so they couldn't be sold in some foreign markets. In 1999, Price acquired a line of air-operated diaphragm pumps that were already being sold overseas.

"That put us very firmly into the international market," Piazza said.

The products' global distribution system also created new markets for centrifugal pumps, he said.

At the company headquarters in Sonoma, workers design, assemble, test and repair the pumps, which are made from stainless steel, metal alloys and plastic. The small, lightweight pumps cost up to $7,000 each.

The international market gives Price room to grow, Piazza said.

"There are still some areas where we don't have a presence," he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.