Utah Businesses to Benefit from Assistance with Ex-Im Bank Financing as Miller Global Business Center Becomes Ex-Im Bank City/State Partner
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Current and future Utah exporters will benefit from local access to information and assistance on the export finance programs of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) now that the Miller Global Business Center of Salt Lake Community College has joined Ex-Im Bank's City/State Partners Program. The partnership agreement between Ex-Im Bank and the Miller Global Business Center was signed on May 22 in a ceremony at Salt Lake Community College's new Library Square Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
Ex-Im Bank's new partnership with the Miller Global Business Center will help us to reach more Utah companies and to get the word out that Ex-Im Bank has the financing tools to help them to reach their export potential, said Ex-Im Bank Board Member Bijan R. Kian, who signed the City/State Partnership agreement on behalf of Ex-Im Bank.
This partnership places us in a much better position to serve the community in export trade finance, said Stan Rees, Miller Global Business Center director. As Ex-Im Bank's City/State Partner in Utah, we will now be able to provide local companies with more access to information and services to increase their export trade opportunities.
As an Ex-Im Bank City/State Partner, the Miller Global Business Center can help local businesses learn about and apply for a range of Ex-Im Bank financing products, including short-term export-credit insurance to mitigate the risk of foreign buyer nonpayment, loan guarantees to increase export-related working capital and medium-term financing for foreign buyers. Among its other services, the center also offers global trade education and training, market analysis and assistance in developing export strategies.
The Miller Global Business Center is part of the Miller Business Resource Center of Salt Lake City Community College and is co-located with the office of the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The offices are in Sandy, Utah, one of Salt Lake Community College's 14 locations throughout the greater Salt Lake City area, serving over 60,000 students.
Ex-Im Bank's City/State Partners Program is a nationwide marketing initiative through which state and local government offices and private-sector organizations are trained to provide application assistance with Ex-Im Bank export financing to small and medium-sized U.S. companies. With the addition of the Miller Global Business Center, Ex-Im Bank now has 45 City/State Partners in 36 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Ex-Im Bank, an independent U.S. government agency, assists in the financing of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing export-credit insurance, loan guarantees and direct loans. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has helped to finance $134 million of Utah exports. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.