Export-Import Bank chief pays call on LI business

What is the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and what exactly does it do?

Fred P. Hochberg, president and chairman, was at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood Tuesday, and acknowledged most people don't know.

Hochberg is making a nationwide tour to familiarize small businesses with the bank's workings.

Hochberg had breakfast with about a dozen Long Island business executives before addressing a larger audience at the college. He was invited by Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), who wasn't on hand for the visit because he was called back to the Capitol for a vote.

Pat Foye, Nassau's deputy county executive for economic development, sat in for Israel.

Hochberg said he had been to about 16 events across the country and met with more than 3,000 small-business executives. Tuesday's meeting was the only one on Long Island.

"We're trying to tell our story," Hochberg said.

The bank, the nation's official export credit agency, is designed to help finance the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. It guarantees credit and country risks the private sector is unwilling to accept.

Small businesses frequently have had problems doing business overseas, because of its cost and the basic unfamiliarity that U.S. executives have with foreign countries. 

"Americans are insular," Hochberg said. "A lot of people don't like to travel. We're going to double the number of people [at the bank] working with small businesses," he said.