Energy Secretary Steven Chu to Participate in Ex-Im Bank 2010 Annual Conference March 11-12 in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will participate in the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) 2010 Annual Conference on March 11-12 in Washington, D.C. The theme of the conference is Powering Jobs, Sales and Profits through Exports.
Secretary Chu is charged with helping implement President Barack Obama's agenda to invest in alternative and renewable energy, address climate change and create millions of new jobs.
Dr. Chu's work to develop alternative and renewable energies is opening enormous opportunities for U.S. companies to enter and successfully compete in the global marketplace for energy products and technologies, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. His presence will greatly enrich the discussion on renewable energy exports.
Prior to his appointment as Energy Secretary by President Obama in January 2009, Secretary Chu was director of the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and professor of Physics and Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California.Starting in 2004, motivated by his deep interest in climate change, he led the Berkeley laboratory in pursuit of new alternative and renewable energies. Secretary Chu was co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997.
The Ex-Im Bank conference will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel and will be attended by more than 1,000 U.S. exporters, domestic and international lenders, brokers, and foreign buyers and government representatives.
Ex-Im Bank, an independent, self-sustaining federal government agency, exists to fill gaps in export financing, to strengthen U.S. export competitiveness and create and maintain U.S. jobs. The Bank provides a variety financing mechanisms including working capital guarantees to help small and medium-sized U.S. businesses, export credit insurance to protect against nonpayment by foreign buyers, and loan guarantees and direct loans to assist foreign buyers of U.S. goods and services.
In fiscal 2009, overall Ex-Im Bank financings came to $21 billion, while authorizations for small business exporters totaled $4.36 billion, both historic highs. In the first four months of fiscal 2010, the Bank authorized a record $10.9 billion in loans, guarantees, and insurance , more than three times the amount authorized in the same period of fiscal 2009. For more information on Ex-Im Bank and the annual conference, including the current agenda and list of speakers, visit www.exim.gov.