Amen, on dealing with banks

Chief Executive, The, April-May, 2006 by Barry Naft

I stopped trying about eight years ago. It is impossible for anyone below the Fortune 500 to get the necessary business credit lines to effectively compete. The last time I checked the SBA gave out about 70,000 loans a year, with about 800 for overseas-related work. The only corresponding bank set up to issue joint letters of credit with typical foreign banks in the entire U.S. Middle Atlantic was the Bank of Baltimore.

This is not just an export/import issue. It's an issue of small and medium-size businesses being able to set up subsidiaries overseas and compete. This is especially true in Europe where evolving open competition rules will allow competition and will allow U.S. firms to utilize their productivity advantages, but they can't get the credit lines to do just that. Some evolving trends that allow U.S. firms to factor international receivables are some help but not enough.

Our solution has been to set up subsidiaries overseas with partners who can provide necessary credit lines and consequently move HQ operations offshore. It's too bad, but what is the alternative?

As for balance of trade, let's face it--the U.S. is exiting the manufacturing sector and has been for some time. So long as the Department of Commerce cannot accurately account for services revenue, the official picture will continue to look dismal.

Barry Naft

CEO, Environment International

Potomac, Md.