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Perspective
07 November 2016

Small business is big business for US Exim Bank

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF SMALL BUSINESS at US EXIM BANK - Export-Import Bank of the United States
In today’s economy, access to global markets is essential for small- and medium-size enterprises. Businesses are increasingly spreading their risks across regions and unlocking flexibility to capture demand as economic conditions shift.

In today’s economy, access to global markets is essential for small- and medium-size enterprises. Businesses are increasingly spreading their risks across regions and unlocking flexibility to capture demand as economic conditions shift. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Exim Bank) equips American exporters with the protection and liquidity to enter new markets and diversify their portfolio of customers. When US companies or their customers are unable to access export financing from the private sector, Exim fills the gap by furnishing American businesses with the tools necessary to compete for global sales.

At Exim Bank, we recognise that small businesses form the bedrock of the American economy. In fact, according to the Small Business Administration, small businesses create two out of three net, new privatesector jobs in the United States and employ half of the domestic workforce. Small businesses are therefore critical to what Exim does.

Exim Bank authorised more than 2,300 transactions in financing and insurance for the direct support of American small business exporters in FY 2015, not including support for small businesses in the supply chains of larger exporters. This represented nearly 90% of Exim Bank’s total transactions and more than $3 billion in dollar volume.

Yet companies can only leverage Exim support if they are aware of our menu of products, which is why we’ve redoubled our efforts to bolster understanding of and access to Exim Bank’s trade finance solutions. Through digital outreach and on-the-ground regional support, we’re educating American exporters more than ever on how Exim Bank can:

  • Mitigate the risk of foreign buyer nonpayment, empowering firms safely to offer competitive credit terms.
  • Unlock working capital, allowing businesses to advance against export-related inventory and accounts receivable.
  • Make possible term financing for foreign buyers of US-made capital goods to meet customer demand.

 

Digital outreach

As the information journey for businesspeople has evolved, so has Exim Bank’s outreach. Over the past two fiscal years, we’ve forged a significant digital presence to educate small American businesses and connect exporters and exporters-to-be with on-the-ground support and expertise.

We do this by offering digestible digital content covering the fundamentals of trade finance and Exim Bank support. This content primarily assumes the form of eBooks, “How it Works” videos, checklists, and so on. We host webinars for industry- and geo-specific audiences. We’re active on social media, where we’ve increased our follower base by 116 percent over the past two years. By reaching a broader audience and making trade finance more accessible, interactive, and understandable, we can better support the international growth of American small businesses and connect them with the appropriate solution, whether from Exim Bank or the private sector.

Throughout our digital interactions with American exporters, we’ve also made available clearer paths to consultations with Exim Bank experts. Accessing government support should be easy. We’re striving to be as available, responsive and helpful as possible to the small business community. Our local Exim Bank specialists promptly respond to online requests for export consultations. More than 100 of our new small business customers this fiscal year first connected with our team digitally.

Finally, we’ve ramped up digital outreach to multiplier networks such as economic development organisations, partner agencies, chambers of commerce, lenders and brokers, all of which are often critical steps in an exporter’s path to support. The better we serve the community that interacts with our end user, the more we can grow American exports. To that end, we’ve created a “Digital Toolkit” (http://grow.exim.gov/digital-toolkit) to equip these entities with illustrative trade finance content.

One of the true pleasures of my work is the excitement from exporters learning of our support for the first time – observing the realisation that a deal once thought impossible, a deal that could grow the business and make a meaningful impact on the company and its employees, is now within reach. Our digital presence is making more of these moments possible, and we’re looking forward to expanding the projects and the conversations.

Local support for small, American exporters

Even in the digital age, small businesses need on-the-ground, face-to-face support available in their backyard. Our 12 regional offices, strategically located throughout the country, are dedicated to providing just that support and education exclusively to small businesses at no cost. Offices are staffed with seasoned trade financiers, many of whom have extensive international and corporate banking experience – they’ve seen it all, and no deal is too small. If a company is exporting US-made goods or service, our team is there to help. And if Exim isn’t what the company needs, we will point it in the right direction.

We’re continuing our efforts to grow exports from US small businesses through our Global Access Forum events each year. The events familiarise US companies and financial institutions with US government financing and insurance programmes. Local economic development organisations; national industry groups; and a wide variety of business, financial, and governmental partners help bring these resources into communities across America. The forums are town hall discussions – often co-hosted by members of Congress, the Department of Commerce, SBA, the US Chamber of Commerce, and local officials – which provide small companies with insights from existing Exim Bank customers and information on US government tools that can equip them to access foreign markets. Exim Bank recently marked the fourth anniversary of its first Global Access Forum for Small Business, having hosted 93 forums since launching January 2011.

To strengthen our relationships with the local organisations that foster small business growth across the country, we recently launched our Regional Export Promotion Program (REPP), a joint effort between Exim Bank and regional organizations with a view to stimulating US export sales. REPP seeks to build on Exim Bank’s regional outreach through increased joint marketing and the provision of tailored content, dedicated callcenter support for members, a new online portal and lead referral system, as well as a newly streamlined and automated onboarding process. Organisations eligible for membership include local, regional, or state economic development organisations, or World Trade Centres that assist small businesses.

Small businesses fuel American job growth and prosperity. Many powerful government resources are now available to support their expansion, but an “if we build it, they will come” approach simply isn’t enough. That is why we at Exim are working every day, on the ground and online, to start conversations with small businesses about boosting that job growth and prosperity.

Jim Burrows

Senior Vice President of Small Business - US Exim Bank

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