Chair Reta Jo Lewis Kicks Off Export-Import Bank of the United States’ 90th Anniversary with Fireside Chat at Founder President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Presidential Library

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 2, 2024
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Hyde Park, NY – Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis today hosted a fireside chat at the presidential library with the great-granddaughter Dr. Sara Boettiger of EXIM’s founder, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to mark the 90th anniversary of the agency’s founding on February 2, 1934.

“For the past 90 years, EXIM has provided unparalleled expertise and financial tools to support world class U.S. exporters as they changed the face of the global marketplace,” said Chair Lewis. “We remain as committed today as when we were founded to meet our mission, deliver for U.S. exporters of all sizes, and ensure they can unleash their full potential to support good paying jobs here at home.”

To kick off EXIM’s 90th anniversary, Chair Lewis traveled to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY, where she toured the library grounds and participated in a discussion with Dr. Sara Boettiger, the great-granddaughter of President Roosevelt who is also a member of EXIM’s Advisory Council and the Chair’s Council on Advancing Women in Business. During the event, they discussed EXIM’s legacy as an innovative financial and diplomatic tool and nine decades of supporting American exporters and American jobs. 

“It was a privilege to visit the Roosevelt Presidential Library and explore our agency’s historic roots alongside Dr. Boettiger,” Chair Lewis added. “President Roosevelt created a bold experiment by founding EXIM to jump start our nation’s industrial sector during a trying economic time. We continue to uphold his legacy today by striving to empower exporters as they compete, win and build new global ties that will shape our future.”

EXIM was founded on February 2, 1934, by President Roosevelt as a new economic tool to boost the economy and support U.S. exporters and jobs across the nation. Over its 90-year history, EXIM has provided a variety of financing tools to empower American exporters and helped bring multiple historic international projects, including the Marshall Plan, the Burma Road, the Pan American Highway, and the Panama Canal, into reality.

 Read more about EXIM’s history here. Watch a video about EXIM’s 90-year legacy here.

About EXIM:

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is the nation’s official export credit agency with the mission of supporting American jobs by facilitating U.S. exports. To advance American competitiveness and assist U.S. businesses as they compete for global sales, EXIM offers financing including export credit insurance, working capital guarantees, loan guarantees, and direct loans. As an independent federal agency, EXIM contributes to U.S. economic growth by supporting tens of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. Learn more at www.exim.gov

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