Rep. Ron Kind and Ex-Im Bank Chairman Hochberg Discuss Economic Growth and Job Creation with Local Employers

Washington, D.C. – Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) Chairman Fred P. Hochberg and Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) held a Global Access Forum for small businesses in Eau Claire and met with local leaders in La Crosse before touring Inland Label, a La Crosse small business that exports labels to countries worldwide.

 “If we hope to strengthen our middle class here at home, we have to sell American-made products to the growing middle class outside our borders. The Ex-Im Bank helps American businesses expand their markets and create good jobs here at home, and I was proud to welcome Chairman Hochberg to Wisconsin today for him to bring that message directly to local employers,” said Rep. Kind. “Wisconsin produces a lot of goods for export, and I will continue to be a strong supporter of the Ex-Im Bank so more small and mid-sized businesses can find new foreign markets for Wisconsin-made products.”

“I had a wonderful opportunity to meet with Wisconsin small-business exporters W.S. Darley Co. and Inland Label Company, which have increased their sales abroad and created jobs here in Wisconsin while utilizing the Export-Import Bank. Representative Kind and I want to make sure that more Wisconsin companies know about these resources if financing is a hurdle to increasing exports,” said Export-Import Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “This is Ex-Im Bank’s specialty. Since FY 2007, we have equipped 112 Wisconsin small businesses to export goods and services worth approximately $4 billion, and we look forward to supporting more Wisconsin companies as they sell beyond our borders, grow their operations and create jobs in the years ahead."

The Global Access Forum, held at Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire, is a town-hall discussion where local small businesses engage with the Ex-Im Bank and also state and federal officials to discuss how to increase their international sales, gain insight into accessing foreign markets, and utilize the Bank's economic growth tools.

Chairman Hochberg and Rep. Kind then met with local leaders and employers in La Crosse to discuss the Ex-Im Bank’s role in economic growth and job creation, before touring a local small business that has benefited from the services offered by the Ex-Im Bank.  

Ex-Im Bank has financed more small-business transactions in the last five years than in the previous 11 years combined. In FY 2013 alone, the Bank approved a record 3,413 transactions -- or 89 percent -- for small businesses. An independent federal agency, the Ex-Im Bank creates and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. It 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 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 American jobs in communities across the country.

Small business exporters can learn about how Ex-Im Bank products can help them increase foreign salesat https://go.usa.gov/ZVTd. For other information about Ex-Im, visit www.exim.gov.