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Washington, D.C. - President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Kimberly A. Reed today addressed the State International Development Organizations (SIDO) Washington Forum, outlining how EXIM supports American jobs by helping U.S. businesses export "Made in the U.S.A." products around the world.

In her speech to nearly 40 state international trade offices, Chairman Reed underscored how EXIM can partner with state trade agencies to deliver financial products and services that can help U.S. companies of all sizes successfully compete in the global marketplace. She was introduced by Maryland Assistant Commerce Secretary and SIDO President Signe Pringle.

Chairman Reed also provided an update on implementation of EXIM's historic seven-year reauthorization, which provides certainty and stability to American workers and businesses that EXIM is fully open for business. It also gives clear direction to focus on economic and national security challenges from China.

"Access to export capital continues to be a top barrier to exporting for U.S. firms, especially small businesses. EXIM plays a key role in supporting our U.S. exporters by providing much needed trade finance and insurance," said SIDO President Pringle. "Having a fully functioning and reauthorized EXIM bank helps all of our states better assist U.S. businesses in securing that export sale."

Since Chairman Reed was confirmed in May, EXIM has completed more than 1,300 small business transactions, totaling over $1.42 billion in authorizations. In FY2019, more than 89 percent of EXIM's transactions directly supported small businesses.

"Our mission is to support American jobs by facilitating U.S. exports, and we cannot do that without the partnership of organizations like the State International Development Organizations across the nation who share our commitment to American exporters," said Chairman Reed. "One of my priorities as chairman of EXIM is to increase our outreach in communities around the country by strengthening our regional efforts."

One of those initiatives is EXIM's Regional Export Promotion Program (REPP), a cooperative arrangement between EXIM, cities, counties, states, and local nonprofit economic development entities. With 57 members in 35 states and two U.S territories, it has yielded more than $25 million in new authorizations though direct referrals, connecting small business exporters to the global economy.

REPP members from 11 states registered to attend the conference, including the Mississippi Development Authority, which was named 2019 REPP Member of the Year and was represented by Senior International Trade Manager Vickie Watters.

On Tuesday, EXIM Business Development Officer Aerek Stephens, who oversees REPP as part of the EXIM Office of Small Business, will join a panel at the SIDO conference to discuss trade and investment finance.

SIDO is a national organization focused on supporting governors' international trade agendas by serving and representing the 50 state trade agencies to the federal government, helping state international trade programs better serve American exporters and international company investors.

ABOUT EXIM:

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to overseas purchasers of U.S. goods and services. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt.

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