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Bio-Microbics Inc., a small business in Shawnee Mission, Kan., is exporting wastewater treatment systems and related equipment to Acuapro S.A. of Monterrey, Mexico, with the backing of a 10-year, $824,000 loan guarantee from Ex-Im Bank. The guaranteed lender is COFINE S.A. in Monterrey, Mexico. The transaction received longer than normal repayment terms under Ex-Im Bank's Environmental Exports Program. Pictured: Bio-Microbics employees at the company's warehouse prepare an equipment order for shipment.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Bio-Microbics Inc., a small business in Shawnee Mission, Kan., is exporting 10 of its FAST wastewater treatment systems and related equipment to Acuapro S.A. of Monterrey, Mexico, with the backing of a 10-year, $824,000 loan guarantee from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). The guaranteed lender is COFINE S.A. in Monterrey, Mexico. The transaction received longer than normal repayment terms under Ex-Im Bank's Environmental Exports Program.

The buyer, Acuapro S.A., a leading Mexican environmental consulting company that provides services in recycling and waste treatment, will build, install and operate wastewater treatment plants for a major retailer in Mexico. The Bio-Microbics equipment will be used to treat wastewater from large commercial buildings for water reuse as part of their water conservation program.

Ex-Im Bank is committed to supporting U.S. environmentally beneficial exports, including those for water and wastewater treatment projects, said Ex-Im Bank Vice Chairman Linda Conlin, who heads the Bank's Environmental Exports Program. Our financing assists foreign buyers in purchasing leading U.S. equipment and technology and helps to support U.S. jobs in the environmental sector.

Ex-Im Bank's involvement in this transaction helped our client to improve its cash flow and also enabled us to sell more U.S. equipment under the contract, said Bio-Microbics President Bob Rebori.

Bio-Microbics, which employs approximately 25 workers, manufactures and markets FAST wastewater treatment systems for light commercial and residential on-site wastewater treatment. The company exports to international markets around the globe, including Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific and Asia. Bio-Microbics earned the Export Achievement Certificate from the U.S. Department of Commerce in recognition of its successful expansion into overseas markets. In calendar year 2007, 29 percent of the company's revenues were export-related.

Ex-Im Bank's Environmental Exports Program offers repayment terms of up to 15 years for U.S. exports to water and wastewater treatment projects, as well as to renewable energy projects utilizing wind, solar, geothermal, bio-energy and hydroelectric power. For more information, contact Craig O'Connor, director of Ex-Im Bank's Office of Renewable Energy and Environmental Exports, at (202) 565-3556.

The loan from COFINE, a Mexican financial services company, is being funded by the Private Export Funding Corporation (PEFCO). PEFCO provided COFINE with 10-year fixed-rate funding for the loan under its discount facility through which PEFCO fixes its interest rate in advance of disbursement under the loan. PEFCO offers internationally competitive funding for medium-term guaranteed and insured loans with extended repayment terms of up to 15 years provided under Ex-Im Bank's Environmental Exports Program (www.pefco.com).

Ex-Im Bank, the official export-credit agency of the United States, is in its 74th 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 2007, Ex-Im Bank authorized $12.6 billion in financing to support an estimated $16 billion of U.S. exports worldwide. Since 1994, Ex-Im Bank has supported an estimated $3 billion of U.S. environmentally beneficial exports. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.