Ex-Im Bank, Iowa partner to help small exporters

   The U.S. Export-Import Bank entered its first marketing partnership in Iowa to help the Midwest state’s small and midsized companies boost their export sales and jobs.
   The City/State Partnership with Iowa Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) gives exporters enhanced access to information about the bank’s resources to exporters in all 99 counties of Iowa, Ex-Im Bank said.
   The SBDC network is sponsored by Iowa State University College of Business, Ames, in cooperation with 14 other regional colleges and universities. It is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
   The purpose of the City/State Partners program is to ensure that Ex-Im Bank’s export finance programs are more accessible to small and midsized business through local, state, and regional economic development and business support organizations. Ex-Im Bank provides its partners with free marketing and training materials, qualified finance experts to speak at events, assistance with outreach and counseling, and access to a network of lenders, insurance brokers, and U.S. government export resources.
   Through its City/State Partnership with Iowa’s Small Business Development Center, Ex-Im Bank offers to Iowa enterprises 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.