Ex-Im Bank Announces 2014 Advisory Committee

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) announced a new slate of members for its Advisory Committee today. The Committee will hold the first meeting of its Fiscal Year on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at Ex-Im Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C.  Now in its 31st year, the Congressionally-established Advisory Committee advises Ex-Im Bank on its policies and programs, in particular on the extent to which the Bank provides competitive financing to support American jobs through exports.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110414/MM83673LOGO)

The Board of Directors appointed 16 members to the Bank's Advisory Committee for 2014. This year's Committee has seven new members and nine returning members. Returning member Christine Gregoire, former Governor of Washington, will chair the Committee.

"I am pleased to announce our 2014 Advisory Committee," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. "Their experience and diverse perspectives will be vital as we work together to find new ways to increase U.S. exports and create U.S. jobs through exports."

The Committee will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, December 18^th at 9:30 A.M. in Room 327 of the Bank. The meeting is open to the public.

The Ex-Im Bank Board of Directors appointed the Advisory Committee after an open nomination process that considered the candidates' business experiences and qualifications, and created a balance in perspectives. The Advisory Committee represents an array of business sectors and stakeholder groups, including small business, manufacturing, labor, services, finance and environmental organizations.

Members of the FY2014 Advisory Committee, and the sectors they represent, are as follows. Asterisked names indicate new members:

Chair:

Christine Gregoire, former Governor, Washington State, Representing: State/Local Government

Members:

Mary Andringa
President and CEO
Vermeer Corporation
Pella, Iowa
Representing: Manufacturing

John Bakane
CEO
Frontier Spinning Mills Inc.
Sanford, North Carolina
Representing: Textiles

Michael Boyle
CEO
Boyle Energy Services & Technology, Inc.
Concord, NH
Representing: Small Business

Celeste Drake 
Trade and Globalization Policy Specialist
AFL-CIO
Washington, DC  
Representing: Labor

**Alan Fleischmann
Principal
Albright Stonebridge Group
Washington, DC
Representing: Services

**Jenny Fulton
Co-Founder, Chief Pickle Officer
Old Orchard Foods
Kernersville, NC
Representing: Small Business

Owen Herrnstadt
Chief of Staff to the International President 
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
Upper Marlboro, MD
Representing: Labor

**Lisa Jo Howlett
President 
Auburn Leather Company
Auburn, KY
Representing: Small Business

**Gary Hufbauer
Reginald Jones Senior Fellow
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Washington, DC
Representing: Commerce and Trade

**James Hughes
Chief Executive Officer
First Solar
Tempe, AZ
Representing: Environment

Michael O'Neill
Chairman of the Board
Citigroup Inc.
New York, NY  
Representing: Finance

**Gwynne Shotwell
President and COO
SpaceX
Hawthorne, CA
Representing:  Manufacturing

**Luis Ubinas
Former President
Ford Foundation
New York, NY
Representing: Services

Cherod Webber
CEO and President
Innovative Global Supply LLC
Columbia, SC
Representing: Small Business

Steve Wilburn
CEO
FirmGreen
Newport Beach, CA
Representing:  Environment

ABOUT EX-IM BANK:

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that creates and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working-capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services. In the past fiscal year alone, Ex-Im Bank earned for U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion above the cost of operations.

In FY 2013, Ex-Im Bank approved more than $27 billion in total authorizations to support an estimated $37.4 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 205,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For the year, the Bank approved a record 3,413 transactions-- or 89 percent--for small-businesses. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.

SOURCE Export-Import Bank of the United States