Joint counseling is the hallmark of new U.S. Export Assistance Centers

Business America, April, 1994

In January the first U.S. Export Assistance Centers USEACs) opened for business in Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, and Long Beach. As the centerpiece of the Administration's National Export Strategy, the USEACs consolidate in one office the export promotion and trade finance services of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The western regional office of the Agency for International Development is also part of the Long Beach USEAC.

By streamlining and coordinating the federal government's many export services, and by working more closely with state and local export partners, the USEACs are helping U.S. firms compete in foreign markets and create new jobs at home.

One example of the success of this unprecedented cooperation comes from the Baltimore USEAC. A local manufacturer, counseled by a Commerce Department Trade Specialist, used the Agent/Distributor Service to locate a sales representative in Argentina. With the assistance of the USEAC, the two parties signed a distributor agreement, and shortly thereafter a sizeable order was placed by the Argentinean distributor. The Commerce Trade Specialist determined that the company needed export finance assistance as well as marketing counseling, so the USEAC turned to the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority (MIDFA) for export financing expertise. Located a few floors away in the World Trade Center of Baltimore, MIDFA is one of the valuable partners working with the U.S. Export Assistance Center to provide export assistance to the business community. MIDFA and the USEAC provide joint counseling to develop an export finance program that meets this Baltimore manufacturer's needs.

USEAC counseling extends beyond one-on-one sessions with clients. The USEAC staff gives presentations to private and public partners, such as legal advisors, commercial banks and finance firms, chambers of commerce, World Trade Centers, and various export clubs and organizations, in order to provide knowledge of the export finance and marketing services available at the USEACs, and when and how to best use these services.

USEAC programs include SBA's Export Revolving Line of Credit and International Trade Loan; Eximbank's Working Capital Guarantee for U.S. manufacturers and its Loan and Guarantee Program for credit-worthy foreign buyers; and the U.S. Department of Commerce's export market counseling, worldwide trade missions, and many programs to find qualified distributors.

The USEACs also organize and promote - usually with local partners - special trade events such as country- and market-specific trade missions, and local trade finance and export marketing seminars.

As 1995 approaches, the Commerce Department, SBA and Eximbank look forward to bringing their combined services to many more U.S. cities.