GSU shows off support for small business
April 25, 2013 2:00PM
Marianne Markowitz, a regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, recently completed a two-day tour of Chicago-area small business exporters.
The four companies she toured are clients of the Illinois International Trade Center at Governors State University in University Park. Chicago Export Packing Co., of Chicago; Automated Design Corp., of Romeoville; PARC Corp., of Romeoville; and Pactrans Air & Sea, of Bensenville; have benefitted from the Small Business Administration’s export-assistance programs that enabled them to grow and create jobs.
“These companies are an inspiration to everything we support. We are also pleased to see federal, state and local partners providing resources to these thriving Chicagoland small business exporters,” Markowitz said.
“We are very proud of the success of our clients’ export businesses,” said Hongxia (Mary) Ma, director of the Illinois International Trade Center at GSU. “They have created positive economic impact in our business community.”
Markowitz and Ma were joined on the tour by federal, state and local officials.
All four companies participated in a Chinese Trade Mission last summer.
“Automated Design has been utilizing the SBA services from Day 1, 27 years ago,” said Lisa Bitsky, the company’s president. “Using the SBA allows us to compete with larger companies and promote American-made products to export overseas. We also acquired the financial assistance to participate in the international trade shows through the SBA’s STEP program.”
The SBA provides counseling, training and financing to support small business export opportunities. It offers loan programs such as Export Express, Export Working Capital and International Trade loans to help business exporters access the capital they need and encourage lenders to provide support for small businesses to see market potential abroad.
For more information, call (708) 534-4929 or e-mail hma@govst.edu.
Staff reports http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/neighborhoodstar/matteson/19312823-521/gsu-shows-off-support-for-small-business.html
