U.S. program focuses on small business exports

   Six U.S. government agencies on Wednesday joined together to kick off a new pilot program to expand federal export assistance to small businesses.
   The program, U.S. Global Business Solutions, hopes to add 50,000 small businesses to the nation’s exporter base by 2017.
   Small Business Administrator Karen Mills said the pilot program will also aim at expanding the base of financial institutions and service providers that facilitate exports, adding an anticipated 250 trade-finance sources by December 2015.
   “To keep our economy growing, we need more American small businesses to become exporters,” said U.S. Export-Import Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg, in a statement. “Global demand for ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ products and services is strong, but many small businesses are unaware of the opportunities in international markets or are wary of the risks.”
   U.S. Global Business Solutions will “bundle” U.S. government trade-finance products for lenders and exporters. The programs and products will be combined into a “single menu” of options that will be tailored to the stage of the exporter’s development and the capacity of the financial institution or service provider. The initiative will be designed to make it easier and more cost-effective for exporters to use the programs and products of multiple agencies.
   In addition to SBA and Ex-Im Bank, the other agencies in the program are the Agriculture and Commerce departments, U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and Overseas Private Investment Corp.
   Increasing small-business exports has been a major focus of Ex-Im Bank’s 2013 Annual Conference, being held this week in Washington. About 1,200 participants, including exporters, lenders and international buyers, are attending.