Speech

Thank you very much for that kind introduction, Paul. I'm delighted to be here in the home of the Green Bay Packers! I've been a fan for a long time - a fact my wife can attest to this since I watched part of the College All Star-Packers game on my wedding night on August 16, 1969!! And this summer we will celebrate our 34th anniversary.

I want to thank Congressman Green for the opportunity to speak at this great event to help northeastern Wisconsin companies grow their businesses by exporting.

I also want to thank the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, and the other organizations that helped Congressman Green make this conference happen. They all do a great job of helping companies in this area expand the international side of their business, and in the process -- either create or maintain jobs.

Just one example: I am delighted that the web sites of the Green Bay Chamber and the Wisconsin Department of Commerce both have links to my organization, Ex-Im Bank.

Before I begin my remarks, I want to encourage you attend the Track One panel right after this speech - Practical Strategies and Resources for International Trade Financing. Two of my colleagues from Ex-Im Bank's Midwest regional office are participating on that panel - Mike Howard and Holly Kirking. They can answer any questions that I've left uncovered - about Ex-Im Bank's ability to support Wisconsin exports.

Our financing is pretty widespread in this state. It has gone to companies such as:

• Marine Travelift, a small business in Sturgeon Bay,
• Paper Converting Machinery of Green Bay,
• Trane Company of La Crosse,
• and Kimberly Clark of the Fox Valley region.

And that's just a sampling. Over the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has helped 107 Wisconsin companies in 49 communities export over $534 million in goods and services, sustaining thousands of high-paying jobs. We are partners in enabling you - the Wisconsin exporter - to compete in foreign markets.

I want to begin by spending a few minutes telling you about the vital role of exports to the American economy, and how the small government agency that I'm proud to represent - the Export-Import Bank of the United States - can help companies in Wisconsin and throughout the United States profit from the lucrative and expanding export market.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GLOBAL TRADE

This is a time of enormous change and opportunity for U.S. companies. Overseas sales are no longer optional for most big businesses and many smaller ones. Unless you want to shrink your horizons, you must play on a global stage. Export-related jobs pay an average of 16 percent more than other jobs.

According to the Small Business Exporters Association, and the U.S. Department of Commerce, in 1999 there were 224,000 small and medium-sized U.S. companies that exported, triple the 1987 total. 70 percent of U.S. exporters have fewer than 20 employees. So you can see that small businesses dominate the export scene.

In 2000, for the first time, U.S. exports topped the $1 trillion mark, up 1000 percent in the last quarter century. In fact, trade accounts for about one-quarter of the U.S. economy - twice the share of just 15 years ago.

Wisconsin exported $10.7 billion in goods and services in 2002, making exports a key component of the state's economy. The largest exports were industrial machinery, medical and scientific instruments, vehicles and transportation equipment, electrical machinery, and paper and paperboard. Nearly 200,000 Wisconsin jobs depend on manufactured exports. This is critically important in Congressman Green's district, where the paper and forestry sectors are the largest employers.

Here's an example of how Ex-Im Bank can help these companies expand their exports. In Green Bay last year, Paper Converting Machine Company sold more than $15.3 million of paper products and manufacturing machinery to Mexico, backed by an Ex-Im Bank $14.9 million long-term guarantee. And this was not a one-shot deal. Our relationship with Paper Converting dates back to 1981.

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TRADE TEAM

The Bush Administration is firmly committed to free and fair trade, and expanding trade opportunities. President Bush has made the advancement of trade around the world one of the highest priorities of his Presidency, and Ex-Im Bank is an important part of this Administration's trade team.

We work closely with our nation's other trade- and export-promotion agencies through an umbrella group called the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC). The TPCC brings together federal agencies involved with trade to share what they're doing, and what they know about the competition, to help U.S. businesses export.

Some of the TPCC members are:
The Departments of Commerce, State and Treasury,
The United States Trade Representative,
The Small Business Administration,
The Department of Agriculture,
US AID,
The Trade and Development Agency, and
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Together, these agencies work to sustain American jobs and put American products in foreign counties.

WHAT EX-IM BANK DOES

I want to give you a brief overview of what Ex-Im Bank does, and how you can gain access to Ex-Im Bank financing. We are the official export credit agency of the United States. We are mandated by Congress to carry out one mission - to finance U.S. exports and, in the process, create and sustain U.S. jobs.

Ex-Im Bank can finance U.S. exports to public and private sector buyers in more than 150 countries - providing products that fill needs, from supplier working capital guarantees to medium- and long-term financing.

We fill a critical trade finance gap by supporting exports to developing markets where commercial bank financing is unavailable or insufficient. This is important because developing markets represent nearly 90 percent of the world's people, and they are likely to be a major source of economic growth in the 21st century. Increasingly, that's where the money is.

Ex-Im Bank also levels the playing field to keep U.S. companies competitive in the global marketplace by matching the government support provided to foreign competitors. As the lender of last resort, we are the first ones into difficult markets, and we are the last ones out. But we must have reasonable assurance of repayment on every transaction

Since being established in 1934, we have supported $400 billion in U.S. exports. In our last fiscal year, we supported nearly $13 billion in U.S. exports, with nearly 20% of our authorizations helping American small businesses.

But to put it another way, and to emphasize the focus and nature of our day-to-day activities, 90% of the deals we financed supported small businesses.

EX-IM BANK FINANCING PRODUCTS

Export Credit Insurance
We offer export credit insurance to protect U.S. exporters and banks against the political and commercial risks of a foreign buyer defaulting on payment. This program is especially helpful to small businesses, but useful to medium and large firms as well.

As an excellent example, last fall Accu-Tech Plastics from Eau Claire approached the Wisconsin Department of Commerce looking for a solution to a new development with a Korean client. As purchase orders increased from the Korean company, Accu-Tech's comfort with this increased foreign exposure became an issue. John Conkel of the Department of Commerce counseled Accu-Tech on Ex-Im Bank's small business credit insurance products.

Working with Holly Kirking of our Chicago office, Accu-Tech insured its foreign receivables with 95% coverage against commercial loss and 100% against political loss. Nearly $100,000 in goods has been shipped since last fall - not sales to be sneezed at for a company with 25 employees. And the process took less than six weeks.

An $813,029 Ex-Im Bank medium-term insurance policy enabled Trane Company, of La Crosse to sell $930,000 of commercial air conditioning equipment for department stores in Mexico.

Medium-term insurance also enabled Continental Girbau, of Oshkosh, to participate as a supplier in the $1 million sale of hotel equipment to Turkey.

Marine Travelift, a small business in Sturgeon Bay which I mentioned earlier, sold a specialty forklift to Venezuela backed by Ex-Im Bank medium-term insurance.

And Case Corporation of Racine, a long-term Ex-Im Bank customer, used our medium-term insurance to sell $1 million of tractors to Peru and to participate as a supplier on the $790,000 sale of used agricultural equipment to Mexico.

Working Capital Guarantees
Ex-Im Bank also offers working capital loan guarantees. This product covers 90 percent of the principal and interest on commercial working capital loans to small and medium-sized U.S. companies that need money to fill foreign orders. The guarantees also cover standby letters of credit serving as bid bonds, performance bonds and advance payment guarantees.

Hudson Sharp Machine Company - an 100-employee Green Bay company -- used an Ex-Im Bank $1 million working capital guarantee to sell specialized plastic bag making machines to Mexico and other markets around the world.

Direct Loan Guarantees and Loans
We also make loan guarantees and direct loans that provide foreign buyers with competitive financing to buy U.S. goods and services.

Aqua-Chem Inc. of Milwaukee participated as a supplier on a $593,398 export of concrete manufacturing equipment to the Philippines, backed by an Ex-Im Bank medium-term guarantee.

Project Finance
Ex-Im Bank's project financing helps finance U.S. exports to large infrastructure projects in developing countries. In limited recourse project finance, repayment is based on revenues from the project rather than on a guarantee of the debt by the host country government. This financing helps developing countries limit their government debt, and helps U.S. exporters compete for projects.

Small and Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses
Minority- and women-owned businesses seeking to export can benefit from Ex-Im Bank financing tools. We expect more of these companies to learn about our services through our various outreach efforts.

We worked with a small, minority-owned enterprise, Cherry Central Cooperative, located in Michigan. Since becoming an insurance policy holder in 1999, Cherry Central's export sales have increased from just one foreign market, Canada, to include Germany, Israel, and Australia. In the last twelve months, the company has exported more than $5 million in cherries. We would like to provide the same kind of support to Wisconsin's cherry growing industry.

Environmental Exports
And we help finance U.S. exports of environmentally beneficial goods and services. Ex-Im Bank has a special Environmental Exports Program that provides enhanced support for a broad range of environmental exports. We also have a new Renewable Energy Advisory Committee to spotlight exports of renewable energy technologies.

And we are constantly trying to push the envelope. We are about to begin approving a 10-year insurance product for environmental and renewable energy transactions - an improvement on the previous 7-year term. The additional amortization can make or break the economies of a deal.

EX-IM BANK ORGANIZATION CHANGES

To make these financing tools easier to access by you, the U.S. exporter, and to speed their delivery, we recently implemented organizational changes. These changes are designed to make Ex-Im Bank more customer-driven and market-focused, and enhance our risk management functions. They will streamline our services, and create consistency in our credit culture and underwriting.

Of particular importance to our customers is the new unified Export Finance Group that we've created to manage transaction relationships across all Ex-Im Bank financing products. Within the Group is the Trade Finance and Insurance Division, my unit, which has responsibility for the relationship management of our clients - you, the exporter, banker and broker.

In Trade Finance and Insurance, and also in our Small and Medium Enterprises unit, business relationship managers serve as a customer's single point of contact to shepherd a transaction through the Ex-Im Bank process - from application to approval.

These professionals help the customer identify the best product available to meet their needs, and act as the client's advocate and champion throughout the approval process.

We have implemented performance metrics to measure quantitatively how much business the Bank is doing and how quickly, how well demands are being met, and how satisfied the Bank's customers and other stakeholders are with the Bank's performance.

Under the new metrics standards, our goal for medium-term deals is to make a decision on 80% of the requests in 20 business days or less, measured from the receipt of an application. Intuitively, you might expect the standard to be 100%, but many cases are very difficult. Consider the markets we are supporting! So 80% is a realistic standard.

Turnaround time on short-term products will range from five business days for letters of credit to 15 business days for most applications for short-term multibuyer policies.

Many of our metrics standards are new and represent a higher bar for us. In the medium-term category, we are not yet at our standard, but are making rapid progress toward it. If you have used our medium-term products in the past, please come again. Your experience should be even better this time around.

HOW TO CONTACT EX-IM BANK

While I am here to answer any questions about how we can help you export, Ex-Im Bank's staff in our Washington headquarters and our Midwestern regional office, as well as several partners in Wisconsin, also can help you gain access to Ex-Im Bank financing.

You can contact our Midwest regional office in Chicago for information about applying for Ex-Im Bank's export credit insurance and working capital guarantees. Mike Howard, who heads the office (Mike, would you please wave your hand), can be reached at (312) 353-8093. And don't forget, you can meet Mike and ask him questions at the Track One panel right after this.

A great deal of additional information is available on our Web site --- www.exim.gov -- and you can even find application forms for letters of interest and preliminary and final commitments for medium- and long-term loans and guarantees on the Web site.

Another way that Ex-Im Bank can help more Wisconsin-based companies is through our City/State Partner, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, International Division. The person to talk to there is Beng Yeap. The number is 608-266-1480. This office provides technical export assistance, agent/distributor searches and market information, and counseling on trade

Still another way is through our delegated authority lenders, who are key players in Ex-Im Bank's working capital guarantee program. Under our delegated authority program, lenders can make working capital loans directly to small and medium-sized businesses without Ex-Im Bank's direct involvement.

Associated Bank of Green Bay - which is represented here today -- is one delegated authority lender, and their phone number is 920-433-3188. Bank One International (214-290-2905) and Wells Fargo Bank (213-253-3529), both of Milwaukee, also are delegated authority lenders. And they are here today, too.

CONCLUSION

In short, we offer many ways to help Wisconsin businesses tap into the global market. Our mission is to help U.S. businesses succeed in that market and to support jobs here at home.

Wisconsin is a major exporter and already an active user of Ex-Im Bank financing services. But with stronger outreach efforts, and more streamlined procedures to make us more accessible and efficient, we want to help even more Wisconsin companies reap the benefits of exporting.

Thank you.

And before I take questions, let me congratulate those of you who are fans of the Wisconsin Badgers and Marquette Golden Eagles, who have made it to this year's Sweet Sixteen, to join my Maryland Terrapins.

And let's not forget the ladies of the University of Wisconsin Green Bay Phoenix, who are in the ladies' tournament.

This is the way I try to get applause at the end of my talks!

Now I'd be pleased to take a few questions.