CINCINNATI, OH – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today convened nearly 100 Ohio businesses leaders to discuss how an aggressive export strategy can grow new jobs and economic development. At the year’s first international trade seminar hosted by Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg, Brown outlined how expanding export markets could be a key way to create jobs and revitalize Ohio manufacturing.

“Ohio’s entrepreneurs and business owners produce high-quality goods and cutting-edge technologies that should be sold around the world,” Brown said. “We need to ensure that our state’s companies have access to a global market. Exporting to new markets can help small businesses generate sales, create jobs, and strengthen communities across our state. ”

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), companies that export experience faster annual growth, pay higher wages to employees, and are more likely to stay in business. Brown noted at today’s event that he is working with Senate leadership on boosting export promotion programs in an upcoming Jobs package. Brown emphasized existing initiatives through the U.S. Commerce Department’s U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service and Export Assistance Centers (US&FCS) and Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) that connects U.S. businesses with the tools to help them export their products and increase sales to new global markets. The US&FCS offers services like ExportTech, which helps manufacturers expand sales in international markets to the U.S. Commercial Service’s Rural Export Initiative (REI), which helps rural businesses gain access to export promotion to strengthen local economies and create new jobs.

Following the seminar, Brown and Hochberg met with more than a dozen community bankers for a roundtable discussion. The Export Import Bank assists American businesses with financing exports and services to international markets. Brown was also joined by Rep. Steve Dreihaus (D-OH).

“I am very pleased to be in Cincinnati with Senator Brown and Congressman Driehaus to talk about increasing Ohio jobs through exports,” Hochberg said.  "Ohio businesses produce innovative, high quality products, and the team at Ex-Im Bank is ready to roll up our sleeves and help more Ohio companies grow their business through exports.

Brown is the chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy where he has held a series of hearings examining how to create new jobs and rebuild our nation’s manufacturing base in the recession. Over the past year, Brown’s Subcommittee featured: (1) "Lessons from the New Deal", exploring how to apply New Deal-era strategy to today’s economy, (2) “Manufacturing and the Credit Crisis,” evaluating challenges manufacturers face in the current recession; (3) “The U.S. as Global Competitor: What Are the Elements of a National Manufacturing Strategy", examining how best to establish a national manufacturing policy; and (4) "Restoring Credit to Manufacturers," investigating the challenges U.S. manufacturers face in the current recession. Ohio witness testimony at these hearings have shaped legislation Sen. Brown introduced in Congress, including Brown’s Small Business Emergency Loan Relief Act, which would temporarily raise maximum amounts for loans administered by the SBA.

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