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BCI Equipment, Inc., a woman-owned small business based in El Reno, Oklahoma, that resells oil drilling equipment worldwide, is expanding its international sales with the help of $3 million in guaranteed loans that were recently approved by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank).
Just two years after starting BCI in 1990, Beverly J. Conklin, the company`s only shareholder, began looking for markets overseas because of the huge growth potential exporting presented in the oil business. Now BCI expects sales of oil drilling equipment and related services to top $7 million this year. BCI exports to South America, Russia CIS, and the Pacific Rim.
In the last two years, BCI and its 28 employees have seen exponential growth. With the increase in worldwide activity in the petroleum industry, Ex-Im [financing] has not only allowed BCI to increase sales but to continue to add jobs to the local community and economy. Also to expand product lines inclusive of new manufacturing, Conklin said. In addition, Ex-Im has mitigated BCI risk to foreign accounts by providing updated financial information and valuable credit histories.
NationsBank, N.A., Oklahoma City, OK, an Ex-Im Bank Delegated Authority Lender, has worked with BCI. As a Delegated Authority Lender, NationsBank and Ex-Im Bank enter into an agreement which allows lenders to make local decisions quickly and approve loans. Delegated Authority Lenders can commit Ex-Im Bank`s guarantee to working capital financing for U.S. small and medium-sized business exporters, without prior Ex-Im Bank approval.
Other Delegated Authority Lenders located in Oklahoma include: Liberty Bank and Trust Company, Bank One Oklahoma, and Bank Oklahoma, N.A. of Oklahoma City; in Tulsa, American Bank and Trust Company, Bank of Oklahoma, N.A. and Boatmen`s National Bank.
The Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Oklahoma City, is an Ex-Im BankCity/State Partner. In this program, Ex-Im Bank works closely with state and local government offices and other organizations to bring the Bank`s programs to the exporter at the lowest cost to American taxpayers. Nationally, Ex-Im Bank`s 33 City/State Partners have the staff and the knowledge of their local markets to reach out to exporters. They provide efficient local access to Ex-Im Bank loans, guarantees and insurance programs, and assistance on working with local lenders.
In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank financing has enabled 118 Oklahoma companies to export $464 million of goods and services. These exports sustained an estimated 725 jobs in 23 communities throughout the state. Nearly 57 percent of Oklahoma companies that received Ex-Im Bank financing in the last five years are small businesses.
Nationwide, Ex-Im Bank has supported over 10,000 transactions through $65.6 billion in authorized financing in the past five years. More than 2,000 communities across the United States directly benefited from this support. The Bank`s financing annually sustains an estimated 200,000 jobs directly among exporters and suppliers and another one million jobs indirectly among subsuppliers.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that supports American jobs by financing the sales of U.S. goods and services to foreign markets.