PALO ALTO, CA BANK IS NAMED EX-IM BANK SMALL BUSINESS BANK OF THE YEAR
Greater Bay Bancorp, Palo Alto, CA, has been chosen to receive the 2001 Small Business Bank of the Year award from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) for its successful contributions to the U.S export effort and U.S. job creation. Greater Bay Bancorp will be honored at an awards ceremony at Ex-Im Bank's Annual Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., April 4-5.
Established in 1996, Greater Bay Bancorp's philosophy is built upon being a super community bank with a strong focus on the small to mid-size business markets in the greater San Francisco Bay area. The bank has been active in Ex-Im Bank's Working Capital Guarantee program since 1999 and believes this program is an important tool in fulfilling its obligations to its local communities.
As an Ex-Im Bank high-level delegated authority lender, Greater Ban Bancorp speedily provides exporters with Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed working capital financing. Greater Bay Bancorp currently has over $11 million of Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed credit facilities supporting exporters selling products to Latin America, Europe and the Pacific Rim. Many of these companies attest that they would not have established the foreign market presence they now enjoy without the support of Ex-Im Bank and Greater Bay Bancorp.
Greater Bay Bancorp's active use of Ex-Im Bank programs has provided millions of dollars in Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed financing to small businesses that need these programs to effectively compete in difficult foreign markets, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman James A. Harmon.
This award is a further recognition of our commitment to relationship banking in our communities by assisting small and medium-sized exporters to successfully compete in global markets, said David L. Kalkbrenner, president and chief executive officer of Greater Bay Bancorp.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance the export of U.S. goods and services to emerging markets throughout the world by providing loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance. During fiscal year 2000, Ex-Im Bank supported $15.5 billion in U.S. exports.