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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) recognized Business Oregon, the state's economic development agency, and the City of Beaverton as award-winners in the 2014 City/State Partnership program. For the past 20 years, the State of Oregon has partnered with Ex-Im Bank to support Oregon businesses that export to the global marketplace. The award was presented at the Bank's 39th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

“Our partnership with Business Oregon and the City of Beaverton has supported good American jobs while helping the local economy,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “Entrepreneurs who take advantage of this City/State Partnership can compete in international markets when they combine private financing with U.S.-backed insurance and guarantees. Beaverton is a model for how to effectively connect local exporters with the 95 percent of the world's customers who live overseas.”

Business Oregon cooperates with state, local, and federal partners to boost the state's performance in the global economy. The organization's Global Strategies Team designs services to support small and medium-sized companies that want to begin exporting or gain access to new markets. The City of Beaverton's Economic Development Division has been an Ex-Im Partner since 2011.

“As an Ex-Im Bank program partner, our goal is to connect small-sized Oregon businesses with export professionals on the West Coast -and around the world - who can offer practical advice on next steps relating to exporting,” said Alexa Hamilton, a Business Oregon global trade specialist.

Last year the City of Beaverton hosted a half-day Export Seminar, bringing together a large audience to interact with key representatives from Ex-Im Bank, Business Oregon's Global Strategies Team, SBA's Office of International Trade, the U.S. Commercial Service, and other business organizations. That event had the largest attendance to date of any export event in the Portland metro region, and generated four new trade-related opportunities.

“The City of Beaverton is committed to providing our businesses with the resources they need to compete on a global scale,” said Steve Thompson, Business Development Liaison. “Ex-Im Bank's trade finance tools have certainly helped our companies win opportunities that would have normally gone to their foreign competitors.”

In 2013, the Portland metropolitan area was ranked 11th out of the top 100 U.S. metros in terms of total exports, and fourth in terms of its share of metro output. In fiscal year 2013, Business Oregon facilitated a total of $22.3 million in export sales, as reported to Ex-Im Bank by its customers.

Ex-Im Bank's 2014 Annual Conference will focus on the global business environment and prospects for growth. The event will feature prominent members of the business and government community including Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Former Treasury Secretary and President Emeritus of Harvard University Lawrence Summers, Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO John Stumpf, SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk, Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya Austin, and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. A full listing of speakers, panelists, and moderators is available on Ex-Im's website: www.exim.gov.

ABOUT EX-IM BANK:

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that creates and maintains 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 the past fiscal year alone, Ex-Im Bank earned for U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion above the cost of its operations.

In FY 2013, Ex-Im Bank approved more than $27 billion in total authorizations to support an estimated $37.4 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 205,000 U.S. jobs in communities across the country. For the year, the Bank approved a record 3,413 transactions, 89 percent of them for small businesses. Small-business exporters can learn about athow Ex-Im Bank products can help them increase foreign sales http://go.usa.gov/ZVTd. For other information about Ex-Im, visit www.exim.gov.