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Mentor, Ohio. — Today, Cleveland area small business owners learned how to gain a competitive edge in the global marketplace when selling their goods and services abroad. The primary reason these companies, and others like them around the nation, hesitate to explore foreign markets is fear of not getting paid by customers. Fred P. Hochberg, the chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), Senator Sherrod Brown and Marianne O'Brien Markowitz, Regional Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration, explained how federal government export financing and other programs address this fundamental concern and also offer access to capital.

More than 100 representatives from local companies attended the forum, which focused on how they can improve their bottom line and create jobs by exporting goods and services to more customers in more countries. This event is part of the New Markets, New Jobs: National Export Initiative and features Ex-Im Bank's Global Access for Small Business program. Together, these efforts further President Obama's goal to double U.S. exports by the end of 2014 through extensive small business outreach programs across the country. Today's forum is the twenty-third of its kind since January, 2011.

Global Access for Small Business is not just a brand, it's a mindset for us at Ex-Im Bank, explained Chairman Hochberg. It is the Bank's top priority to dramatically increase the number of small businesses exporting goods and services to support the U.S. economy and create more jobs. We want to secure financial support for these businesses so they can sell to more countries and expand sales into existing ones.

It's simple. Exports help create more jobs in Ohio, Brown said. An aggressive American export strategy is key to our recovery, and will produce both short and long-term benefits in Ohio and throughout the country. That's why strengthening efforts to connect small businesses with opportunities to sell their products and services abroad is so important—and that's exactly what today's forum is designed to do. I stand ready to help Ohio's companies grow their exports and add jobs, and encourage small business owners to contact my office for more information on the federal resources available to them.

Representatives from Ohio companies that currently export, Rad-Con, Superior Holdings, LLC, and Richard L. Brown Associates provided first-hand accounts of how their companies have benefited from the resources of government programs.

Business owners also received one-on-one trade counseling from representatives of the Ex-Im Bank, U.S. Commerce Department and Small Business Administration. In addition, current small business exporters from the Cleveland region provided testimonials about their experience in getting started. The owners gained first-hand knowledge on Ex-Im Bank products for small business, like working capital loan guarantees and small business export credit insurance.

Small business owners who missed this Global Access forum can still learn how Ex-Im Bank can expand their export sales by contacting Ex-Im Bank's Regional Export Finance Center at 212-809-2650 or by calling toll-free to 1-800-565-EXIM (3946). On its website Ex-Im Bank offers information specifically designed to assist small business exporters secure export financing.

Global Access is supported by a wide variety of business and financial and government partners, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and the Bank's 60-plus city/state partners located throughout the U.S. This year, Export-Import Bank has already held 21 other Global Access forums around the country.

About Ex-Im Bank:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
In FY 2011 through August 31, 2011, Ex-Im Bank has approved almost $25 billion in total authorizations — an all-time Ex-Im record. This total included more than 2,500 U.S. small-business transactions. The Bank's authorizations through August will support approximately $31.5 billion in U.S. export sales and 213,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit the Bank's Web site at www.exim.gov.