12 Dec Mayor Eric Garcetti and Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg Announce Partnership to Expand Export Financing Support for L.A. Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses
Los Angeles – Mayor Eric Garcetti and Export-Import Bank of the United States Chairman Fred P. Hochberg have announced a new partnership help Los Angeles-based small- and medium-sized export businesses get loans so they can have greater access to foreign markets.
Mayor Garcetti’s Minority Business Development Agency can now process loan applications for L.A. businesses for financing through the Export-Import Bank’s Global Credit Express program, designed to help those small businesses which might be locked out of conventional financing markets or need liquidity to finance exports.
“I’m proud to partner with the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loans for Los Angeles export businesses to help them succeed internationally and create jobs here at home,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Our city creates the world’s greatest products, and my business team and I will continue working with LA’s entrepreneurs to secure every advantage for our businesses to reach the world’s consumers.”
Through this new partnership, Los Angeles-based small- and medium-sized export businesses may be eligible for a 6- or 12-month revolving line of credit of up to $500,000 through the Ex-Im Bank’s Global Credit Express program.
The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center – Los Angeles, is operated by the University of Southern California (USC) in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development.
“Ex-Im Bank welcomes the MBDA Business Center – Los Angeles to the growing list of Originators for the Global Credit Express (GCE) Direct Loan Program,” said Export-Import Bank of the United States Chairman Fred P. Hochberg. “The success of the GCE Program is based on knowledgeable referral sources like our partners at the City of Los Angeles and USC, who can help us identify qualified small-business exporters that need pre-shipment working capital to expand their export sales. In FY 2013 alone, Ex-Im Bank authorized $815.6 million to support 761 export transactions by small- and medium-sized minority- and/or women-owned businesses in the U.S. In other words, approximately one in five Ex-Im transactions directly benefited minority-owned or woman-owned small businesses. This partnership will help Southern California companies reach the other 95 percent of the world’s customers that live overseas and support jobs here at home.”
Interested businesses should contact Ron Lowe in Mayor Garcetti’s office at ron.lowe@lacity.org or 213-978-1533.
The creation of this new partnership follows shortly after Mayor Eric Garcetti was appointed as the chair of a new “Trade in the Americas Task Force” within the US Conference of Mayors. As chair, Mayor Garcetti will decide the scope and direction of the task force to promote programs, regulations and investments to increase trade in our cities.
Mayor Garcetti returned on March 6 from Mexico where he led a delegation of L.A. business leaders and officials with the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports, and the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board to encourage Mexican business to locate and invest in Los Angeles and to promote tourism, trade and exports. This was his first international trade mission as mayor.