Durbin Meets With Small Business Administrator to Discuss Illinois Exports
539,300 Illinois jobs are supported by exports
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – United States Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, Karen Mills, to discuss ways in which Illinois companies can grow their businesses by selling to customers abroad. Illinois exports generated approx $4.1 billion in state tax revenue in 2008 and currently support 539,300 Illinois jobs.
“Since 95% of the world’s consumers live outside the United States, our small businesses need to be able to export effectively to take advantage of the growth that the world markets can support,” said Durbin. “If small businesses in Illinois can sell more of what they produce, they will hire more workers. And if more people can find work, more people will have the steady income they need to purchase goods for their family which in turn will help small business grow even faster. Today, Administrator Mills and I talked about jumpstarting this job-creating cycle in order to get our economy moving.”
Earlier this year, the President announced his National Export Initiative with the goal of doubling United States exports over the next five years. He has asked the Small Business Administration to work with other agencies such as the Department of Commerce, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Department of State and the Department of Treasury to provide a plan for reaching that goal.
One of the three areas the President proposes to address is improving access to credit. Through his role as Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, Durbin has been able to help make Small Business Administration credit easier for small businesses to access. He has worked to increase the amount small business can borrow, increase the amounts the Small Business Administration will guarantee so that lenders will loan more to small business and waive loan fees for borrowers.