Pack It Up. It’s Going Overseas!
A Georgia business can have a hometown address and a customer several time zones away. That combination is more common than the image of exports as a business reserved for giant corporations might suggest.
Georgia’s small business figures show that 87% of the state’s exporters are small businesses. That number describes the companies doing the exporting, not their share of the dollars, but it changes the cast of the story. Georgia’s international economy includes owners whose names may be better known on their own streets than across the state.
The scale is considerable. According to the state’s 2025 trade report announcement, Georgia exported a record $60.2 billion in goods last year, reaching 213 countries and territories. Aircraft parts, computer hardware, vehicles, communications equipment and medical devices led the categories. Those totals say a great deal about Georgia’s reach; the 87% figure says something about who gets to take part.
For a smaller manufacturer, finding an overseas customer presents questions well before anything is packed for shipping. Which market makes sense? What are comparable products selling for there? Who might distribute the goods? The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s export services offer market intelligence, competitive analysis and help identifying prospective buyers and distributors. Its trade managers in Georgia work with representatives covering more than 60 international markets.
Money can be another hurdle. An international trade-show booth, travel to meet buyers or marketing materials in another language can cost plenty before a company makes its first sale. The competitive Georgia Export Grant reimburses approved small businesses for 75% of eligible, preapproved costs, subject to limits for each activity. Eligible expenses include trade-show booths, certain international travel and the design or translation of marketing materials. Businesses already exporting and those ready to begin can apply, but approval is not automatic.
None of that guarantees a purchase order from abroad. It does give a Georgia owner a way to investigate a market and make connections without building an international team from scratch. For communities with small manufacturers, that is a useful reminder: the next customer may live nowhere near the storefront, workshop or factory where the business began.
Find more Georgia businesses in the Georgia Business Journal manufacturing directory: https://gbj.com/manufacturing
