News

Washington, D.C. - The California Centers for International Trade Development (CITD) of the California Community Colleges' Economic and Workforce Development Program helps California small businesses realize the tremendous growth opportunities of the global marketplace. In recognition of its service to California's exporting firms, CITD has been named the Regional Export Promotion Program (REPP) Member of the Year by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). CITD will accept the award at EXIM's 2018 Annual Conference, which is being held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., on April 19-20.

As a member of EXIM's Regional Export Promotion Program (REPP), the CITD network works with EXIM to invest in California's economic growth and global competitiveness through industry-specific education and training, including assistance in how to access EXIM financing.

"EXIM has worked closely with the CITD network to reach out to their small business clients to educate them on export financing and risk mitigation. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with CITD to help more products made by California small businesses reach buyers across the globe," said EXIM Senior Vice President of Small Business James Burrows.

"One of the easiest and most valuable referrals for us to make for a small business exporter is to a local EXIM professional. EXIM helps many California small businesses grow from one to two customers in a few markets to numerous customers in multiple markets, saving businesses time and effort in accessing the resources they need to succeed in exporting," said CITD Statewide Director Jeff A. Williamson.

In addition to providing numerous small business referrals to EXIM, CITD's flagship California State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) leverages a wide network of state, federal, private, and non-profit trade organizations to facilitate export promotion and drive exports for small businesses. As a federal participant within the STEP project, EXIM is a primary resource for California businesses needing answers to export-related questions or seeking additional information on EXIM products and services.

The California Centers for International Trade Development (CITD) provides export training, export promotion, and export education services, and are funded through the California Community Colleges, the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 72 districts and 114 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year. For more information, please visit www.citd.org.

As statewide organization, CITD represents the breadth of strong relationships between EXIM Bank and California businesses. In 2017 alone, EXIM Bank assisted nearly 200 California exporters, helping to support almost $900 million in exports. Over the past five years, the Bank authorized $6 billion in financing to support $1.3 billion of California exports. Over this period, EXIM supported nearly 670 California exporters, 500 of which were small businesses, including approximately 200 minority-owned and women-owned enterprises.

ABOUT EXIM BANK:

EXIM Bank is an independent and self-sustaining federal agency that provides competitive and necessary export credit to overseas purchasers of U.S. exports to promote and support American jobs. A robust and fully functioning EXIM Bank can assist the United States in leveling the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive the support of their national export-credit agencies. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth and the support of more than a million jobs through the support of thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) around the country. Since 2000, EXIM Bank has provided $14.6 billion to the U.S. Treasury after paying for all of its administrative and program expenses.

For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.