Chairman Reed Addresses Oregon Bankers Association, Washington Bankers Association, and Western Bankers Association

Outlines EXIM Tools That Community Banks Can Provide to Help American Businesses Expand International Sales and Sustain U.S. Jobs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 28, 2020
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WASHINGTON - Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed today addressed 45 attendees of a virtual roundtable co-hosted by the Oregon Bankers Association, Washington Bankers Association, and Western Bankers Association, highlighting how lenders can partner with EXIM to support their small-business customers with export financing tools.

During the webinar, Chairman Reed outlined how EXIM works with community banks, with particular focus on EXIM's financing tools and resources for companies in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. She also highlighted EXIM's COVID-19 (coronavirus) relief measures for U.S. exporters and financial institutions, including U.S. small businesses.

"EXIM engages with community banks on much of the agency's important work, providing lenders with loan-backing guarantees that decreases their risk," said Chairman Reed. "That results in an expanded borrowing base that small-business exporters can use to borrow more with the same collateral, which allows them to better compete globally to sell their 'Made in the USA' products."

Others participating in the webinar were:

  • Linda Navarro, President and CEO, Oregon Bankers Association.
  • Glen Simecek, President and CEO, Washington Bankers Association.
  • Steve Andrews, President and CEO, Western Bankers Association.
  • Luke Lindberg, EXIM Senior Vice President of External Engagement.
  • Steve Freshour, EXIM Vice President of Business Credit.
  • Glenn Boykin, EXIM Relationship Manager.

"We were very pleased to have Chairman Reed join us and participate in an engaging dialogue with our member banks," said Steve Andrews of the Western Bankers Association, a regional banking trade association headquartered in California that represents 13 states across the West. "The EXIM Bank has a critical mission of supporting U.S. jobs and the economy by providing important export financing resources, and we appreciated the opportunity to learn more about these resources and how financial institutions can continue to support their local businesses during this time."

"I am glad Chairman Reed was able to meet with our bankers and to share about their work," said Glen Simecek of the Washington Bankers Association, the state's largest financial services trade association. "The EXIM Bank is a critical partner in our economy, and this roundtable provided our members the ability to learn more."

"We appreciate the time Chairman Reed took to engage in discussion with Oregon, California and Washington Bankers today," said Linda Navarro of the Oregon Bankers Association, a trade association representing state and national banks and trust companies doing business in Oregon. "There are clearly many valuable opportunities for bankers in our region to partner with the EXIM bank to support local businesses, foster growth, and ultimately, make our communities stronger."

The speakers outlined opportunities for community banks to become part of EXIM's delegated authority lenders program and use EXIM's working capital program to increase their competitive advantage. They underscored how EXIM partners with, but does not compete with, private-sector commercial lenders to empower U.S. businesses to increase their exports.

ABOUT EXIM:

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt. 

For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.