Export finance manager to speak at YSU

Staff report

Youngstown

Mark Klein, export finance manager of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, is the featured speaker at the Government Export Financing Seminar.

The seminar is from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday in the Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University. The event is sponsored by the International Trade Assistance Center and the Ohio Small Business Development.

Ex-Im Bank is the official Export Credit Agency for the United States and its mission is to assist in the financing of U.S. goods and services to international markets. Klein will discuss the export finance and insurance products available through the Ex-Im Bank.

Ex-Im Bank provides working capital guarantees (pre-export financing); export credit insurance; and loan guarantees and direct loans (buyer financing).

Ex-Im Bank does not compete with private sector lenders but provides export financing products that fill gaps in trade financing. Ex-Im Bank will assume credit and country risks that the private sector is unable and unwilling to accept.

Klein is a member of the Midwest Regional Office in Chicago. He covers the Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska markets and works with exporters in those areas.

Before joining Ex-Im Bank, Klein was an international banking services specialist for three commercial banks and worked with exporters in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.

He counseled exporters on a variety of issues including letters of credit, foreign exchange risk mitigation and export credit insurance. Klein was instrumental in building an International Banking Services Department at a small community bank.

The International Trade Assistance Center at YSU offers a variety of export counseling services at no cost to small- and medium-sized business in Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties.

New and existing exporting companies can benefit from the expertise available at the ITAC in order to develop and expand international markets and increase sales.

ITAC Trade Advisor Mousa Kassis has the expertise to provide information on basic export questions to detailed compliance and documentation issues.

Working in conjunction with the Ohio Small Business Development Center at YSU, companies interested in discussing exporting opportunities can contact the ITAC for an appointment at 330-941-2140.

Both the ITAC and the SBDC are in Suite 1155 of the Williamson College of Business Administration at YSU. The Ohio Small Business Development Center and its related programs are part of the economic development outreach services of the Williamson College.