Brett Tarnet Insurance Services of Newbury Park, Calif., is Named Ex-Im Bank's Regional Small Business Broker of the Year
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Brett Tarnet Insurance Services of Newbury Park, Calif., will receive the 2006 Regional Broker of the Year Award from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) at Ex-Im Bank's annual conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 6.
Established just two years ago, the two-person company already has introduced 31 small businesses to Ex-Im Bank's insurance products. Company principal Brett Tarnet previously was operations manager for insurance broker Meridian Insurance Services, which was twice-named Ex-Im Bank small business broker of the year.
I foresee a day when the existing broker community will be overwhelmed by the demand for export credit insurance, said Tarnet. The limiting factor now for brokers and small businesses is a low level of awareness. What is needed in the market is education about export credit insurance- what it is - and the role it can play in enabling growth for buyers and sellers in international business. Trade finance is an essential tool for any company to fund day-to-day operations. Export credit insurance provides an essential balance between risk and reward in trade finance relationships.
To get her message out, Tarnet talks to thousands of companies through her marketing data base in her two-man office on the California coast between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. But that doesn't supplant the need for face-to-face contact, she says. I went to see six companies in Idaho just last week. Tarnet says the match between Ex-Im Bank's premium payment structure, product cost, and level of service makes this product perfectly tailored to small businesses.
Dynamic companies like Tarnet Insurance Services enable Ex-Im Bank to reach further into America's diverse communities to provide small businesses with the tools they need to compete globally and grow, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President (Acting) James H. Lambright. We are delighted to give this visionary company our Regional Broker of the Year award.
Ex-Im Bank's 31st annual conference on April 6 and 7 will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. The award ceremony will take place during the April 6 luncheon program which begins at 12:30 p.m.
Ex-Im Bank this year marks its 72nd year of helping finance the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export credit insurance, and direct loans. In fiscal year 2005 Ex-Im Bank authorized nearly $14 billion in transactions supporting almost $17.9 billion in U.S. exports. More than $2.6 billion of the authorizations, or 2,617 transactions, directly supported U.S. small businesses as primary exporters.