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Washington, D.C. - The Export Finance Assistance Center of Washington (State) (EFACW) will receive the City-State Partner of the Year award from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). The award will be presented at the Bank's 37th Annual Conference, “Ex-Im -Your Competitive Edge,” on April 12 in Washington, D.C. EFACW provides export-finance counseling to current and prospective exporters based in Washington State.

An Ex-Im Bank City-State Partner since 1989, EFACW provides export-finance matchmaking by referring small and medium-sized companies to banks, other lenders, and insurance brokers to support their foreign transactions. EFACW also helps clients identify prospective overseas buyers and assess their creditworthiness.

“EFACW helps Washington small business owners realize that there are countless opportunities in the global marketplace,” said Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of Ex-Im Bank. “For more than twenty years, EFACW has worked closely with Ex-Im, and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership so that more products overseas have the “Made in Washington” label.” “EFACW's success is in large part due to our City/State Partner relationship with Ex-Im Bank and our collaboration with the Washington State Department of Commerce and the U.S. Export Assistance Center,” said John Brislin, president and CEO of the Washington Export Finance Center. “EFACW looks forward to the opening of the Seattle office of Ex-Im Bank so that together we can provide enhanced support for Washington exporters.”

Last year, EFACW conducted over 300 trade-counseling sessions and held 50 presentations, including training for delegated authority lenders that can commit Ex-Im's working capital loan guarantees. EFACW also recently assisted a small-business manufacturer of power generators in obtaining an Ex-Im multi-buyer policy that enabled the company to sell competitively into seven new markets that it would not have entered without insurance coverage to mitigate the risk of non-payment.

Ex-Im Bank's City-State Partners bring state and local nonprofit economic development entities together to expand awareness of export opportunities and financing. They advise local small businesses on exporting and enable them to work with trade-finance specialists. More than 60 Ex-Im City-State Partners are located across the country.

Ex-Im Bank's 2012 Annual Conference will feature prominent members of the business and government community including President Bill Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States; Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel; Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; David Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group; and Dean Oskvig, president and CEO of Black & Veatch's global energy business. A full listing of speakers, panelists, and moderators is available on Ex-Im's website.

About Ex-Im Bank:

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers $1.9 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.

Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 — an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales — also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country. Persons interested in applying for positions in Ex-Im Bank regional offices can go the careers section at Exim.gov. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.