The Illinois International Trade Center at GSU participated in the U.S. Export-Import Bank 2014 annual conference at Washington D.C. on April 24-25. Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that creates and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing. 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.
The 2014 annual conference focused on the global business environment and prospects for growth. The event featured prominent members of the business and government community including Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
In fiscal year 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.
Prior to the annual conference, the ITC director Mary Ma was invited to participate in the Ex-Im Bank City/State partners meeting. The meeting has provided the extensive information of export promotion programs from the federal agencies, including the International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, and OPIC.
More than 40 Ex-Im Bank City/State partners participated and learned about the updated export financing program of Global Credit Express and Trade Credit Insurance, which particularly focusing on small business exporters. They also discussed how to strengthen the cooperative partnership with Ex-Im Bank by regular training and communication.
The Illinois International Trade Center at Governors State University has been appointed as the originator for the Ex-Im Bank Global Credit Express program since 2013. There are 54 originators nationwide, including banks, brokers and export finance agencies. The ITC at GSU is the only SBDC international trade center designated as the originator. The ITC has been working very closely with Ex-Im Bank to support Illinois small businesses to strengthen capital competency for increasing exports to global market.