Showing posts with label Phoenix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phoenix. Show all posts

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Ex-Im Bank's Global Access for Small-Business Initiative Hits Benchmark; Phoenix Manufacturer Marks 1,000th Company

The Export-Import Bank of the United States [Ex-Im Bank] reached a new milestone this month, when the 1,000th small-business customer joined the list of first-time users of the Bank's export finance products as part of its Global Access for Small Business [Global Access] program. Serverlift, located in Phoenix, Ariz., helped bring Ex-Im Bank one step closer to achieving its goal of adding 5,000 new small-business customers by 2015 -- a central feature of Global Access, which launched in January.

Serverlift is a high-tech company that specializes in the manufacturing of lifts for transporting and sustaining data center servers. They received a $250,000 Express Insurance policy from Ex-Im Bank in June, 2011, with approved foreign buyers in Ireland and Turkey.

This financing product was developed specifically for qualified small businesses. It features a streamlined application, plus both a policy quotation and two foreign-buyer credit indications up to $300,000 within five business days.

Serverlift originally manufactured in China and recently moved operations back to the U.S., resulting in doubling the number of its U.S. employees.

"The Bank's support gives us the credibility that we need to pursue foreign buyers," said Ray Zuckerman, CEO of Serverlift. "Extending credit makes us more attractive to our customers and allows us to sell to larger companies."

The Global Access initiative is a key component of Ex-Im Bank's work supporting President Obama's National Export Initiative [NEI] and its goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015. In addition to bringing 5,000 more small businesses into the Ex-Im Bank portfolio, the initiative aims to approve at least $30 billion in small-business transactions during the five-year period of the NEI. To reach these benchmarks, Ex-Im Bank is offering new financing and insurance products -- such as Express Insurance being used by Serverlift -- that complement existing Bank programs.

"Growing small-business exports is a top priority at the Bank," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg [pictured]. "The U.S. economy will not grow without exports, and we will not reach our export potential without the participation of small business. Through Global Access, we can make sure that more small businesses are selling more products, to more customers in more countries -- and, in the process, growing their business and adding new workers to their payrolls."

The Global Access initiative also includes extensive outreach. Since the beginning of 2011, when Global Access began, there have been 16 public forums across the country that have attracted over 2,000 small-business owners who have learned about the export resources available from a range of government agencies and private organizations. In addition, Ex-Im Bank has sponsored monthly webinars for hundreds of exporters that feature various financing products.

"Ninety-five percent of the world's customers live outside of the U.S., and the best way to reach them is through exports," said Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Working with the Ex-Im Bank, America's small businesses have a golden opportunity to increase their sales, expand into the global marketplace, and create jobs at home at a time when we really need it.

"Global Access forums provide a platform for small businesses to receive guidance on how to enter new markets and increase sales by exporting."

The other leading private-sector partner for Global Access is the National Association of Manufacturers [NAM], the nation's largest manufacturing association. NAM has increasingly played a role in the nation's economic progress as President Obama recently noted that the development of the manufacturing sector is essential in creating more U.S. jobs. Significantly, the association's support of Ex-Im Bank's effort to reach small businesses has paralleled this progress.

"Expanding U.S. manufactured goods exports is vital to creating new manufacturing jobs and growing the economy," stated Jay Timmons, president and CEO of NAM. "Improved access for trade financing is essential for manufacturers to grow exports. Through our partnership with the Global Access initiative, we have been able to help small and medium-sized manufacturers expand into new markets, getting us closer to the goal of doubling exports by 2014."

Ex-Im Bank -- an independent, self-sustaining federal agency -- helps create and maintain American jobs by filling gaps in export financing and strengthening U.S. export competitiveness. The Bank has generated $3.4 billion for U.S. taxpayers over the past 5 years.

In the first eight months of fiscal year 2011, Ex-Im Bank approved $20.3 billion in total financing authorizations -- a 25% increase since fiscal year 2010 -- supporting $26 billion in U.S. export sales plus more than 175,000 American jobs in communities across the country. During the same period in fiscal year 2010, Ex-Im Bank approved $16.3 billion, supporting $19.9 billion in U.S. export sales and 137,000 American jobs.

For more information, visit Ex-Im Bank's Web site at http://www.exim.gov/.

Global Access forums have been held in the following locations: Manchester, N.H.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Lafayette, La.; Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles, Cal.; Denver, Colo.; Long Island, N.Y.; West Long Branch, N.J.; Miami, Fla.; Wilmington, Del.; San Leandro, Cal.; Wichita, Kan.; Charlotte, N.C.; Providence, R.I.; and Clinton, Md.

Global Access partners include: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Commerce [U.S. Commercial Service], the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative [USTR], U.S. Small Business Administration [SBA], National Association of Manufacturers [NAM], FedEx, Wall Street Journal, PNC Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Bank, and HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

SOURCE: Ex-Im Bank
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Saturday, February 02, 2008

Taste of the NFL XVII to Be Broadcast on Martha Stewart Living Radio; Nick Lachey Emcees

"To address the needs of the hungry and homeless by raising awareness and money through special events and programs." -- Taste of the NFL mission statement

Tonight, on the eve of Super Bowl XLII, thousands of good-hearted and fun- and football-loving folks will gather at the Phoenix Convention Center to nosh on some of the nation's finest food, sip great wines, and rub elbows with NFL players past and present. The charitable event is Taste of the NFL XVII, and could very well raise a half-million dollars to help tackle hunger in Arizona -- where food banks were first conceived some 40-plus years ago -- and in communities throughout the U.S.

Last year at this time, GoodBiz113 introduced its readers to Taste of the NFL [TNFL], a quintessential win-win-win fundraising initiative that kicked off in 1992, when Minnesota's Twin Cities hosted Super Bowl XXVI ["Cuisine Concepts at Heart of Taste of the NFL -- AKA 'Super Bowl Party...With a Purpose' -- to Tackle Hunger in America"]. Via its annual Super Bowl Eve event, plus local team-sponsored food- and wine-tasting events featuring top chefs and libations, TNFL has raised a total of $6.8 million for hunger-related charities in NFL cities from coast to coast.

Since publishing our first GoodBiz113 small-biz profile of Cuisine Concepts, TNFL has raised approximately $1.3 million -- including $200,000 for Daily Bread Food Bank of South Florida, where Super Bowl XLI was held. During the year, nearly $1.1 million was raised at eight local TNFL events hosted by the New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings and the St. Louis Rams.

In fact, TNFL's most recent newcomer -- none other than the New York Giants, this season's NFC champions -- contributed $70,000 raised from its very first gala to the ShopRite Partners in Caring Fund, a nonprofit program that helps feed hungry kids and adults throughout the New York metropolitan area. How's that for great karma?!

Among this year's recipients of TNFL/Super Bowl-related monies raised -- e.g., via ticket sales, auction items, purchases from the online TNFL Store:
* St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance
* United Food Bank
* America's Second Harvest
* Community Kitchen
* The Campus Kitchens Project
* Food Research & Action Center

Kostroski Recruits Top Chefs, Scores Celebrity Coups
Each year, Wayne Kostroski [pictured], co-founder of Cuisine Concepts, and founder and executive director of Taste of the NFL [AKA Hunger Related Events], recruits chefs from the leading restaurants in TNFL host cities to come to the Super Bowl and collaborate for the season's premier fundraising event. TNFL covers each chef's airfare and lodging, and they show up -- ready and rarin' to prepare and serve their signature dishes to some 3,000 guests, each of whom has paid $500 to $600 per ticket. [Corporate tables for 10 are priced at $5,000.]

"Tickets to our annual event have been sold on eBay for as much as $2,000," Kostroski told GoodBiz113. "Besides the Super Bowl, of course, it's always the hottest ticket in town."

Since we interviewed him last year, the effervescent restaurateur/altruist/sought-after speaker has scored some major coups. Besides adding the New York Giants to TNFL's calendar of local events, he also won several months' worth of free publicity from the far-reaching likes of Martha Stewart Living Radio, SIRIUS channel 112.

Starting last November, Martha Stewart Living Radio has broadcast twice-weekly interviews with chefs, each of whom discusses his or her signature TNFL dish, takes calls from listeners, and shares colorful anecdotes about their favorite NFL players and hometown teams. This evening, the program will broadcast live from TNFL.

"Martha Stewart Living Radio also ran a 'Recipe Bowl' contest, in conjunction with Epicurious.com," beamed Kostroski. "The winner was a woman from Henderson, Nev., whose husband happens to be a high-school football coach. They both get free airfare, lodging, meals and tickets to prime Super Bowl seats. Plus, she gets to cook with one of the sous chefs participating in Taste of the NFL."

Tonight's gala event showcases great wine from Gallo, dishes prepared by chefs from 36 restaurants in all 32 NFL cities, and TNFL and Pro Bowl events. Guests will also get to sample dishes from seven hand-selected "Flavor of the Valley" restaurants that represent some of the best cuisine in the Phoenix/Scottsdale region:
* Cowboy Ciao
* Furio
* Michael's Catering
* Tradiciones
* Roaring Fork
* Eddie V's Edgewater Grille
* Wildfish Seafood Grille

Following dinner, pop star/actor/sports team owner Nick Lachey will emcee auction-related events -- including the presentation of checks to St. Mary's Food Alliance, and United Food Bank. He'll also introduce the evening's entertainment: 1970s rock band, Cheap Trick.

TNFL Serves Up Camaraderie, Not Competition
The food-service industry is rife with seering competition. Refreshingly, TNFL is a bastion of cooperation -- in the kitchen, at the serving tables and behind the scenes.

"You wouldn't believe the camaraderie among our chefs," said Kostroski. "Before Taste of the NFL, we have a Friday night huddle for NFL players, their spouses/partners and the chefs. We present awards to those who have contributed their talents and time to their communities, and do some other fun and special things, too."

After Hurricane Katrina, several New Orleans restaurants closed their doors forever. Not the French Quarter's Bayona Restaurant, whose star chef and co-founder, Susan Spicer, has been a loyal team player since TNFL's early years. To help see Spicer and her displaced employees through the disastrous post-Katrina days, weeks and months, the TNFL "family" took up a collection and sent her a check for nearly $9,000.

"The bottom line to me, in life, is that most people will step up, when asked, to do what they do best," Kostroski noted. "Taste of the NFL reminds people to check your pulse to see how you're feeling, and then to consider what you can do to help others -- whether you're a chef, plumber, electrician, whatever."

On March 6, Kostroski is a featured speaker in the prestigious "Meet The Culinary Entrepreneurs" lecture series, sponsored by New York's Institute of Culinary Education [ICE®]. What will his message be to the ICE® audience of would-be restaurateurs? "To engage people of all talents and backgrounds in order to serve the greater good," he replied.

"Taste of the NFL is another way to be inclusive," Kostroski added. "If someone wants to help us tackle hunger by driving a truck or delivering stuff on a Schwinn, we'll figure it out... Once they come on board, though, we've got 'em forever."

To become involved in TNFL -- as a restaurateur, chef, volunteer, sponsor, etc. -- contact Wayne Kostroski. Phone: 952.926.7478; E-mail: wayne@cuisineconcepts.com.
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