Advantages to applying for this award include state, national and international recognition as well as positive media exposure for your company!
We are delighted to announce the upcoming Thirteenth Annual Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Global Trade, which recognizes excellence among Arkansas Exporters and serves to inspire the exporting community. New this year: We will present an Export Service Provider Award to a unique, innovative Arkansas Banker, Logistics Provider or Customs Broker who helps Arkansas companies be successful in exporting.
Questions? Please contact Max Avery, Vice Chair of ARDEC.
The awards will be presented during our annual evening banquet in October 2023. Applications are due by Friday, August 18, to allow enough time for review. There is no fee to apply.
What past winners have to say:
Brittany Scott, Founder & CEO
Smart Reproduction Services, 2022 Woman-Owned Exporter Award
“Due to the heightened publicity from being awarded the Governor’s Award for Woman-Owned Exporter in 2023, SMART Reproduction has received inquiries for our products from several novel markets. These customers directly cited the award as one of the reasons they reached out to our company. We are proud that not only that our company was recognized but that the unique, high-quality domestic products we manufacture were as well.”
Michael Schrekenhofer, Account Manager
Leather Brothers, 2021 Rising Star Recipient
“We sent out a press release to all of our raw material vendors and customers informing them of this award and its recognition. This bettered our relationship with our vendors for hardware materials, but also helped push some export accounts we’ve struggled with selling in the past to give us a try! [The Governor’s Award] was overall a very easy process.. I believe there are many more manufacturing businesses across our state that will learn and benefit from the Arkansas DEC organization and Governor’s Award in the coming years.”
Stefan Johansson, Founder & CEO
ECOJOHN, 2021 Small Company Recipient
“ECOJOHN exports products all over the world, and it was especially exciting to receive awareness for sustainability since this is a major focus of our company. Being able to share this award has given our customers more insight and confidence in our company and a boost of morale to our employees. The support from ArDEC was great throughout the entire process and the award ceremony itself was a wonderful event.”
Applications are due by 5PM on August 18, 2023
Eligibility: All Arkansas-based companies actively selling in international markets are eligible to apply. Companies with facilities and employees in Arkansas that can provide export sales data from within the state are eligible to apply. Please show that activities of Arkansas-based employees lead to an increase in exports. Companies need not be headquartered in the state of Arkansas to apply.