Liikala Named to U.S. Export Promotion Post

The U.S. Commerce Department has announced that Michael W. Liikala, who monitored export activities in 10 western states from his Newport Beach office, has been named western regional director for the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service.

Liikala, 39, will be based in San Francisco and will oversee export promotion efforts in 10 western states, including Alaska, California and Hawaii. Instead of monitoring exports, Liikala will help U.S. companies market their products abroad.

A successor is expected to be announced next week, Liikala said.

Liikala, 39, first came to Orange County in 1988, when he opened the Bureau of Export Administration’s western regional office in Newport Beach. During his tenure, the U.S. government softened export licensing requirements for high-technology products because of the warming U.S.-Soviet relationship and the fall of Communism in Eastern Bloc countries.

The Commerce Department is expected to issue about 20,000 export licenses this year, down from slightly more than 100,000 licenses issued in 1988, Liikala said.

This reduction in the number of licenses needed “means that there are a lot more export opportunities out there today than four years ago,” he said.