Last Friday and Saturday, Mayor Alvin Brown hosted at least 70 local leaders including mayors, port directors and trade specialists are here in Jacksonville to develop a national agenda that expands exports, improves infrastructure and modernizes ports. Mayor Brown is Chair of U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Metro Exports and Ports Task Force.

"If you're serious about creating jobs, you have to be serious about expanding exports," USCM President and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "Ninety-five percent of the world's consumers are outside of the United States. To help businesses get their products from cities across the United States to markets around the world, we need to invest in our roads, bridges, ports, and rail systems."

Released at the meeting the report, entitled U.S. Metro Economies: Exports in the Next Decade, projects that exports will outpace imports by 2020, growing an average eight percent annually. A copy of the report and its key findings can be obtained at www.usmayors.org.

Learn more at the Mayor's Blog.