Ex-Im Bank, Illinois to promote exports

   The U.S. Export-Import Bank has entered a new marketing partnership with the state of Illinois to help the Midwest state’s businesses boost export sales and jobs.
   The so-called Ex-Im Bank’s City/State Partnership with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gives thousands of exporters, especially small businesses, access to information about the bank’s resources.
   The partnership connects companies to the bank’s products and services via a statewide network of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and International Trade Centers (ITCs), where entrepreneurs meet export finance counselors and learn how to grow their businesses.
   “Owners of small and medium-size businesses already come to Illinois export centers to improve their understanding of export trade; now they will find Ex-Im Bank resources in the same place,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg in a statement.
   Export sales growth from Illinois over the past four years has exceeded the national average, increasing by 63 percent compared to the nation’s average 47 percent. In 2012, direct exports accounted for 10 percent of the Gross State Product.
   Through its City/State Partnership, Ex-Im Bank offers to Illinois companies expanded access to products such as its Global Credit Express, which helps exporters acquire low-cost working capital up to $500,000, as well as Express Insurance, which simplifies small business access to export credit risk insurance on their foreign accounts receivable.The Bank has designed an array of low-cost loans, guarantees, export credit insurance, and supply-chain financing structures to enable both small and large businesses to export globally without fear of nonpayment.
   In addition to this partnership, the bank cooperates with two other City/State Partners in Illinois: Global Midwest Alliance LLC, and the Chicago Trade Accelerator, organized by World Business Chicago.