SHAHEEN RELEASES INTERACTIVE MAP OF EX-IM BANK IMPACT IN NH

(Washington, D.C.) –Continuing her work to prevent a shutdown of the Export-Import Bank, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen today released an interactive map of the bank’s impact on New Hampshire businesses. The bank will shut down on May 31 if Congress does not pass a reauthorization.

The map, posted on Shaheen’s website, plots the locations of 27 New Hampshire companies that have received export financing support from the Export-Import bank between 2007 and 2012.

To use the interactive map, go to: http://www.shaheen.senate.gov/export-import/

“The Export-Import Bank is a critical tool for companies who want to grow their exports, and it costs taxpayers nothing,” Shaheen said. “This map is a new and interactive way to explore the work the Export-Import Bank has done over the years to help New Hampshire’s manufacturers and technology companies succeed. We need to come together in a bipartisan way to ensure the bank continues to provide this crucial export assistance to companies in New Hampshire and nationwide”

The Export-Import Bank is the official export credit agency of the United States. It provides direct loans and loan guarantees to foreign buyers of U.S. made goods, which is critical for buyers of large products such as airplanes. It also provides working capital loans to small businesses that are exporting, and provides insurance for exporters in case a foreign buyer fails to pay. In all these cases, the bank is filling gaps in the private market. It is an important resource for U.S. companies seeking to compete with foreign firms, which often get aggressive trade financing support from their national governments.

The bank’s impact extends beyond those it works with directly. As the Senator pointed out in a visit last week to New Hampshire Ball Bearings in Laconia, the bank is important to many other businesses because they sell to companies which rely on the Bank’s services.

In 2011 alone, the Export-Import Bank supported an estimated 288,000 American jobs at more than 3,600 U.S. companies and facilitated $41 billion in exports. The bank pays for itself through the fees it collects and is projected to actually reduce the federal deficit by $900 million over five years, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

To see a list of the New Hampshire companies plotted on the map, go to: http://www.exim.gov/congmap/#/NH

Two prominent New Hampshire business groups, the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire High Technology Council, recently issued support for the bank.

“We've worked closely with the Bank in the past, and see it as one of the best agencies of the federal government for helping US companies do business overseas, including a number of small New Hampshire companies,” said Fred Kocher, president of the New Hampshire High Technology Council.

The BIA joined over 180 state and local chambers on Monday in a letter to Congress urging reauthorization. “Ex-Im Bank — which is set to expire on May 31 — is a vital resource in helping U.S. companies both large and small to successfully engage in international trade,” the letter says. “Without Ex-Im Bank reauthorization, our country’s exporters won’t be able to compete effectively in the global marketplace.”

Nationwide, reauthorization of the Export-Import bank is supported by hundreds of U.S. companies, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable. It has enjoyed broad bipartisan support in past reauthorizations, passing without objection in both the House and Senate in 2006. Shaheen cosponsored a bipartisan measure in the Senate earlier this year to reauthorize the bank for four years.

A member of the Senate Committee on Small Business, Shaheen has consistently worked to aid small companies in reaching foreign customers. Last year she hosted a Small Business Committee field hearing in Manchester with U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) to examine ways to help small businesses export. Shaheen also held roundtable discussions with New Hampshire small business owners on the federal resources available to help small businesses export with Export-Import Bank Chairman and President Fred Hochberg.