FROM: EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Ex-Im Bank Partners With Iowa Small Business Development Centers,
Multiplies Access to Export Financing
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today announced its first marketing partnership in the state of Iowa to help Iowa small- and medium-size businesses boost export sales and jobs. Ex-Im Bank’s City/State Partnership with Iowa Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) gives exporters enhanced access to information about the Bank’s resources to exporters in all 99 counties of Iowa.
The partnership is expected to accelerate export business and job growth by promoting Bank products and services within a statewide network of 15 SBDCs and an International Trade Center (ITC), where entrepreneurs meet export finance counselors and learn how to grow their foreign sales. The SBDC network is sponsored by Iowa State University College of Business, Ames, in cooperation with 14 other regional colleges and universities. It is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
“Ex-Im Bank has a lot to offer Iowa businesses that want to reach customers overseas and grow their export sales, and this partnership will put Ex-Im’s financing benefits within easy reach,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “Owners of small and medium-size businesses already use Iowa SBDC’s International Trade Center; now they will find Ex-Im Bank resources in the same place. This new connection will support increased sales and job growth in Iowa.”
Ex-Im Bank’s City/State Partnership with international trade educators and business experts in Iowa aims to build upon existing successes there. The International Trade Center provides expertise about how export businesses start, grow, and gain profits. By means of inexpensive workshops and free one-on-one counseling and online courses, it equips small businesses with marketing savvy otherwise accessible only to large companies.
“Our SBDC International Trade Center is committed to helping Iowa’s small and medium-sized businesses gain access to capital for expanding to markets outside the U.S.,” said Debbie Franklin, ITC director. “This partnership with Ex-Im Bank will help provide these businesses the additional support needed to export globally.”
The purpose of the City/State Partners program is to ensure that the Bank’s export finance programs are more accessible to small and medium-sized business through local, state, and regional economic development and business support organizations. Ex-Im Bank provides its Partners with free marketing and training materials, qualified finance experts to speak at Partners’ events, assistance with outreach and counseling, and access to a network of lenders, insurance brokers, and U.S. Government export resources.
Through its City/State Partnership with Iowa’s Small Business Development Center, Ex-Im Bank offers to Iowa enterprises expanded access to products such as its Global Credit Express, which helps exporters acquire low-cost working capital up to $500,000, as well as Express Insurance, which simplifies small business access to export credit risk insurance on their foreign accounts receivable.
