EXIM Employee Veterans and Veteran-Owned Business Leaders Recognized by EXIM Board Members
Washington, D.C. - Kimberly A. Reed, president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and EXIM Board of Directors Member Spencer Bachus III-a veteran of the Alabama National Guard-hosted a roundtable discussion on Friday, November 15, with EXIM employees who are veterans of the U.S. armed services to discuss ways that EXIM can better serve and support veterans and active service member employees and veteran business owners across the nation.
Chairman Reed, Director Bachus, EXIM Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity Craig Cassidy, and 14 EXIM employee veterans engaged in an open dialogue about their personal experiences in the armed forces, transition to civilian life, and recommendations of how to recruit veterans to work for EXIM and better support veteran-owned businesses.
"Our nation's veterans and their families have contributed and sacrificed much to defend and preserve America's liberty. It is an immense honor to work every day at EXIM with talented and diverse veterans and active service members from all branches of the U.S. military as we focus on our vision of keeping America strong by empowering U.S. businesses and workers to compete globally," said Chairman Reed. "During our discussion, it was evident that our veterans' commitment to this country, their leadership and discipline, and their ability to work as a team to complete a mission are the keys to their successes in life as well as at EXIM. We all share the same mission to support this great country, and thank our veterans for protecting our nation and supporting American jobs by facilitating U.S. exports."
"In 2018 and 2019, EXIM authorized nearly $60 million in support of veteran-owned small businesses. We are proud of our work with veterans and veteran-owned businesses, and we have a portfolio of small business solutions that can help businesses owned by veterans to begin or expand their exports," added Chairman Reed.
"My experience in the military was very rewarding and helped shaped me into the individual who I am today, and I know my colleagues who served share similar sentiments. Everything you gain while you're in the military prepares you for life-it never leaves you. I appreciate and commend EXIM's veteran employees and our veteran-owned business leaders, and it is an honor to work side-by-side with these brave individuals," said EXIM Board Member Spencer Bachus III.
During the roundtable discussion, EXIM Board Member Bachus also read from remarks that he made as a U.S. congressman in 2008 at the dedication of the Alabama National Veterans Cemetery, where he recounted how he might explain to his grandchildren that those buried there represent more than the words soldiers or veterans can convey.
Director Bachus stated the following:
"I will start by telling them that those are the graves of fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, grandparents, maybe a favorite uncle or cousin, a high school buddy or a college roommate, a best friend or a favorite childhood playmate. I will talk about their sacrifice, bravery, and patriotism. What I will tell them is about respect and honor. But most of all, I will tell them it's about love - our love for them and more importantly, their love for us."
As the men and women who have defended the nation continue their service to the nation by creating American jobs and boosting the U.S. economy, EXIM's financial resources can help veterans compete effectively in the global marketplace and increase sales of American-made products. Since 2014, EXIM has authorized more than $148 million in support of veteran-owned businesses.
EXIM's Office of Minority and Women-Owned Businesses (MWOB) works closely with other government agencies and business development associations to educate businesses operated by veterans about EXIM financing and helps create opportunities for export-ready U.S. businesses. Those outreach efforts include webinars, seminars, conferences, and other events.
The MWOB office also collaborates with veterans' organizations, including the National Veteran Business Development Council, the Elite Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Network, the National Veteran Small Business Coalition, the National Veteran Institute for Procurement, and the Department of Commerce's VetsGoGlobal Team.
EXIM provides a portfolio of small business solutions that can empower businesses started by veterans to begin or expand their exporting sales. Those tools include export credit insurance to minimize nonpayment risk and improve cash flow, working capital guarantees to provide credit lines for producing goods and services, and term financing to support international buyers in purchasing American capital goods and services.
(Standing left to right) Rodrigo Patzy, loan officer; John Kammeier, senior portfolio manager; John Trammell, management and program analyst; Steven Freshour, vice president of business credit; Kevin Dorsey, chief of facility services; Lance Mathews, deputy chief ethics officer; Mark Jefferson, contracting officer; Larry Williams, senior labor management and employee relations advisor; Spencer Bachus III, member, board of directors; Tamara Maxwell, director of minority- and women-owned outreach; Robyn Moore, contracting officer; Michael K. Jackson, lead business development officer; and Calvin Boles, attorney advisor. (Sitting left to right) Inci Tonguch-Murray, senior vice president and deputy chief financial officer, and Kimberly A. Reed, president and chairman.
ABOUT EXIM BANK:
EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to overseas purchasers of U.S. goods and services. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt.