Administrator Barreto

Good afternoon.

Boy, after that introduction, I am going to really have a high bar to meet today. How many times did he say I was going to be eloquent?

I am very happy to be here. And this is really exciting. This is an incredible attendance. This is a major, major event. And I couldn't think of a better place to be today than with all of you, and to really talk about the importance of export and import to our country, to our economy, and for that matter, to the whole world.

I want to thank my dear friend, Eduardo Aguirre, for that very generous introduction. I really appreciate it and I know my mother would very much appreciate that.

I'm reminded that in my history, my background, that I also got a taste of the importance of export-import in my own family. Some of you may know that my father was an immigrant to this country. He came from Mexico in the late 1950s and I used to kid him all the time and say that he was really on the cutting edge, because he started Mexican food restaurants in Kansas City, Missouri, in the late 1950s, when nobody even knew what Mexican food was.

And one of the things that happened that was very interesting is that as the restaurants grew and became more successful, our customers used to ask us about how to prepare this food. They wanted to prepare it and they wanted sometimes to prepare it at home. And so they started asking my father to please get them the foodstuffs and the materials and all the ingredients. And so my father started importing Mexican food products from Mexico. And he started selling it to his customers.

And that spawned a whole different business than we had before. We still had the Mexican restaurants, but I had an opportunity to be involved in a small international trade firm. And my father used to describe it as the "Sanchez to Sanchez to Smith paradigm". That's what he called it. Sanchez to Sanchez to Smith, where Sanchez in the United States might sell something to Sanchez in Mexico or Latin America, and Sanchez in Mexico or Latin America would sell it to Smith in the United States.

And my father was very, very passionate about international trade, you know, 30 years ago, before we really started talking about it the way that we do now. So, you know, we've come a long way, and there's so much more to be done, incredible opportunities in the world today.

A lot of people don't realize that 89 percent of all exporters in this country are small businesses. And their numbers are growing. Between 1992 and 2000 the actual number of firms exporting goods jumped from 108,000 to 237,000 firms. Small business is a much bigger part of exporting than is commonly understood. And that's why these awards that we're going to present today are so important.

I'd like to see more of their numbers grow, because although small businesses represent so many of the number of exporters, they only represent 20 percent of all the trade that is occurring. So there is an incredible opportunity to really grow that pie for small businesses all around this country.

It's great to bring recognition to the award recipients themselves. But in doing so, we also highlight small business as an essential and growing part of international trade. More small business owners have an interest in participating in international trade than sometimes we may even realize.

A survey that was done by the trade promotion coordinating committee, which is headed by Secretary Don Evans of Commerce, found that 30 percent of small firms that are not currently exporting would be interested in exporting if only they had someone or some entity to assist them. And that's why it's so important that SBA and EX-IM are working closer and closer together. Business owners that want to engage in trade really need both of us. We have the same customers, and I'm glad that SBA and EX-IM are working so well together as a team to serve small business interests.

Last May Eduardo and I signed a memorandum of understanding, an MOU that I think has really benefited our agencies and our small business customers. By signing that MOU, we agreed to strengthen our ties as institutions and really make an effort to share information with each other. Since then, members of the SBA and the EX-IM Staff have met regularly to share ideas and experience and find ways to improve the delivery of all of our products and services through trade assistance programs to small businesses.

We've also discussed performance measures, so that we can do more joint marketing of our programs, and also share credit for the results that we're able to obtain. And we've worked together to develop a joint marketing campaign for our respective effort to work on capital programs. This includes joint publications, a program guide, and a lender and small business-training program. The ultimate goal of that campaign is to better educate the small business export community on all of the products and services that are available to them. Because as that survey mentioned and indicated, what's lacking in terms of exports in the small business community is not interest. You know, small businesses are very interested in this area. Or potential. They have incredible potential.

It's simply the need to have someone or some agency point the way. And that's why I think that all of us getting together, sharing this information, discussing new ideas and new initiatives is so vitally important to all of our future. I know that sometimes in Washington-speak, an MOU may seem like mumbo-jumbo, but this agreement was a very strong agreement, and it's going to provide a lot of assistance to some small business owners who really need it.

Right now, SBA and EX-IM are working together on integrating our working capital programs. This is another step that will make it much easier for the small exporter to understand and to obtain financial backing.

As strong as our partnership has been, I know that it will only grow stronger under the new leadership of Phil Merrill as its new president and chairman. Phil is a great leader, and I'm looking forward to working together with him and building on this relationship that we already have. He and Eduardo understand what our president understands, and that is what small business contributes to this country.

It's really not small when you think of it. The numbers are astounding. There are some 23 million small businesses in this country. Already, according to our guidelines, over 99 percent of all businesses in the United States are considered small businesses. They already generate more than 60 percent--some people think it's closer to 80 percent--of all the new jobs that come out of the economy. That's one of the reasons the President consistently refers to small business as the "engine that fuels our economy".

And another interesting fact: The produce 13 to 14 more patents per employee than large firms do. That is incredible. It just goes to show you how innovative small businesses are. So they're not only creating all of these jobs, but they're also creating a lot of the new ideas and technology and innovation. And that's one of the reasons that we all need to work together to continue to strengthen this very, very important part of our economy.

The bottom line is clear, and the President knows it: Small businesses are the economy backbone, and they're the embodiment of the American dream. That was true for my father and our family, and I'm sure it's been true for many of your families as well.

That's why the work that we're doing to help small firms export their products is so important, and why I'm so glad to be here to recognize today's award recipients. And I want to personally thank them for all of their good work and all of the contributions that they make on behalf of the small business community and really to our country as a whole.

Small business is the country's heart and soul, the most basic building block of our free enterprise system. And the U.S. has allowed and encouraged small business to flourish more than any other country. I will tell you, as we travel around and visit with leaders of other countries today--I'm so glad that the Ambassador to Russia is with us, here today--and we've had many countries visit us--we truly are the envy of the world, because of what we've been able to do with our small business community. They're always asking, "How can we do this? How can we duplicate this?"

And that is a great, great compliment to our free enterprise system, and to our country.

I believe that small business is the well from which we draw our strength. And I look forward to seeing the work of the SBA and EX-IM as it replenishes that well, as it also provides nourishment to small businesses in other countries that face the same challenges that we do in this country, for their own growth and their own survival. Nothing has told us that more clearly than what has transpired over the last month or so. You know, the President says oftentimes that the neighborhood is changing, and we've got to be good neighbors. Together we can be those good neighbors.

I want to thank you very much for having me here today. I want to thank Phil and Eduardo. And my most heart-felt congratulations to all of these award recipients. We thank you for everything that you do every day for our country and for small business in general. May God bless each and every one of you, and may God continue to bless our great country, the United States of America.

Thank you very much.