The Export-Import Bank of the United States Reports authorized $32 billion in export financing in FY 2011 (Oct. 1, 2010-Sept. 30, 2011), which supported more than $40 billion worth of exports, according to statistics unveiled Thursday by the organization.

Fred Hochburg, Ex-Im Chairman/President, noted the particular growth in authorizations for small businesses to $6 billion for the year, about double the level posted just three years ago. He said small businesses were a key part of President Barack Obama’s loft goals for exporting through 2014.

“We’re not going to double exports unless we double small business exports,” he said. “We’re leveling the playing field and making sure small companies and large companies can go toe-to-toe with foreign companies, and we do it at no cost to the U.S. taxpayer.”

Hochburg said among other considerable increases in Ex-Im funding was one in the renewable energy sector, up from $30 million three years ago to $720 million in FY2011 for financing for foreign buyers to purchase from U.S. companies in the industry, largely on projects/partnerships in areas of Canada, India and Turkey. Mexico, however, remains the largest national market for Ex-Im authorizations. Columbia grew the most in 2011, a point not lost on Hochburg during a question-and-answer session Thursday, one day after Congress passed a free trade agreement between the Latin nation and the United States among a trio of pacts.

“Of the three, Columbia offers most promise where we [Ex-Im] can play a role,” he told NACM. “There’s a lot of promise, the business community leans forward and it’s right in our back yard.”

Ex-Im authorizations for 2010 of about $24.5 billion, a record until the latest statistics, supported $34.4 billion worth of exports and 227,000 American jobs at more 3,300 U.S. companies.

Brian Shappell, NACM staff writer