Labor Day 2012 Sees More Than 276,000 Jobs Supported by Export Financing Provided by Ex-Im Bank
WASHINGTON, DC —- As Americans celebrate the unofficial end of summer this Labor Day, more than 276,000 American workers and their families are benefitting from jobs that are being supported by export financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank).
Export-intensive industries pay higher wages than domestic-oriented industries in large metropolitan areas, said Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of Ex-Im. So this Labor Day Ex-Im Bank is again on track for another record year providing financing for buyers of U.S. goods and services, and in doing so is fulfilling its mission of helping create and sustain American jobs.
As August began Ex-Im Bank had authorized 3,055 separate transactions totaling $25.8 billion, which in turn supported about $39 billion in export sales.
Businesses employing dozens to thousands of Americans are supported by Ex-Im Bank financing. Among the companies benefitting from export financing from Ex-Im are:
- FirmGreen Inc., a small renewable-energy company based in Newport Beach, Calif., and other U.S. green technology suppliers who were able to export equipment and services for an innovative biogas project at the Novo Gramacho land fill near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ex-Im provided the buyers a $46.8 million loan for the project which directly generated 165 new jobs at facilities in seven states: Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Michigan, Missouri and Texas.
- Trench-Tech International, Inc. a small business in Roanoke, Texas is exporting its TT2550 chain trencher to a buyer in Mexico with the support of a $970,000 Ex-Im guaranteed medium-term loan from Citi Commercial Bank.
- Tetra Tech, a small business in Pasadena, Calif. is supplying design and construction services for a desperately-needed water supply system in Sri Lanka because of a $64.9 million Ex-Im Bank direct loan to the Sri Lankan government. The transaction will support approximately 400 American jobs in Denver and Longmont, Colo.; Morris Plains, N.J.; Langhorne, Pa.; and Fairfax, Va.
- The Boeing Co. employed thousands of workers in Washington State and elsewhere to complete and deliver to Ethiopian Airlines the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner delivered to any airline outside of Japan, which is also the first 787 to be financed by Ex-Im Bank.
About the Ex-Im Bank
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers $1.9 billion above the cost of operations. 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.
Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 — an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales — also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.