About one-third of Maine’s private-sector jobs and economic output are the result of companies that do at least some business overseas, according to a report issued Monday.

Business Roundtable, a Washington, D.C.-based public-policy group made up of chief executives at major U.S. companies, says “globally engaged” U.S. companies contributed 214,500 jobs, either directly or indirectly, and $16.7 billion to Maine’s economy in 2011, the most recent year studied. The report was based on research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC.

According to Business Roundtable’s definition, a globally engaged company is “a U.S. company that conducts operations abroad through a 10-percent-or-more-owned foreign affiliate.”

In all, jobs contributed by globally engaged companies accounted for 31 percent of Maine’s 2011 private-sector workforce, the report said. Total payroll for those jobs was $10.1 billion, about 34 percent of all 2011 worker compensation in the state’s private sector.

The average annual compensation for a worker at a globally engaged company in Maine in 2011 was $56,245, including wages, salaries and fringe benefits, the report said.

Maine’s economy included 328 companies that operated globally in 2011, it said. Together, their activities contributed $16.7 billion in economic impact to the state, about 34 percent of Maine’s 2011 economy, according to the report.

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The Business Roundtable favors lowering corporate tax rates in the U.S., which the group of CEOs says would make the country more competitive in the global economy. The group has launched a campaign to lobby Congress to simplify the U.S. tax code.

J. Craig Anderson can be contacted at 207-791-6390 or at:

canderson@pressherald.com

Twitter: @jcraiganderson


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