Local Small Businesses Get New Export Finance Support as World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia Becomes Ex-Im Bank City-State Partner
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Philadelphia area small and medium-sized businesses seeking to grow by exporting will have easier access to financing through a new partnership agreement signed by the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia (WTCGP) and the Export Import Bank of United States (Ex-Im Bank).
WTCGP has become a member of Ex-Im Bank's City-State Partners Program, a nationwide marketing initiative that brings state and local government offices and private-sector organizations into partnerships with Ex-Im Bank to expand export opportunities.
WTCGP President Linda Mysliwy Conlin and John Richter, Ex-Im Bank senior vice president, small business, signed the partnership agreement at a ceremony in the office of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. Mayor Nutter also signed an agreement updating the City of Philadelphia's long-term Ex-Im Bank City-State partnership.
Ex-Im Bank is delighted to widen the reach of its financing for exporters in Philadelphia and surrounding counties, said Richter. We plan to put Ex-Im Bank loan guarantees and insurance behind these businesses to support U.S. jobs and spur economic growth.
The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia is very proud of our new partnership with the City of Philadelphia, Ex-Im Bank and the region's leading lending institutions, said Conlin. Our export finance program demonstrates our continued commitment to helping exporters succeed in global markets while contributing to the economic growth of the region.
WTCGP will collaborate with the City of Philadelphia to expand access to Ex-Im Bank financing for the many companies with which the city deals, working with the region's leading banks to organize financing workshops and other events.
As an Ex-Im Bank City/State Partner, WTCGP can help local businesses learn about and apply for a range of Ex-Im Bank financing products, including short-term export-credit insurance to mitigate the risk of foreign buyer nonpayment, loan guarantees to increase export-related working capital and medium-term financing for foreign buyers. WTCGP provides business and education services to companies in the region, with a direct link to over 750,000 international companies through 336 World Trade Centers in 93 countries.
Ex-Im Bank is the official export-credit agency of the United States. The independent, self-sustaining federal agency, now in its 75th year, helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by financing the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export-credit insurance and direct loans.
Over the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has helped 223 Pennsylvania firms in 112 communities finance over $3 billion in exports. In fiscal year 2009, the Bank authorized more than $21 billion in support of U.S. exports overall, the highest level in the Bank's 75-year history. Ex-Im Bank also set a record for financing of small business exports at $4.36 billion in fiscal 2009. Small business transactions for the year totaled 2,540, or 87.9 percent of total Ex-Im Bank transactions. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.