Ex-Im Bank Helps Small Arizona Company Contend with Goliaths

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Alan J. Merrill knows that his business is doing good in the world. In an industry that often gets a bad rap for scientifically engineering agricultural products, Gilbert, Arizona-based Bio Huma Netics Inc. (BHN) is a producer of organically based, environmentally sustainable fertilizers that revitalize abused soils and infuse vital nutrients in crops.

“We’re positively influencing countries around the world,” said Mr. Merrill, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at BHN, which specializes in turf products and wastewater treatment solutions in addition to the agriculture line.

Four years ago BHN consisted of nine employees, but today this global company supports approximately 40 jobs in the Phoenix suburb, and as Mr. Merrill pointed out, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has made it possible.

BHN first began using the Ex-Im Bank nine years ago when BHN executives met with a group from Turkey at the World Ag Expo. The Turkish group was excited to learn about the products that BHN offered but did not have the immediate cash flow necessary to enable an international sale. Mr. Merrill said BHN turned to the Ex-Im Bank to provide purchase insurance for the sale, allowing BHN to turn towards global markets.

Nearly a decade later, BHN still relies on the Ex-Im Bank to access markets where agriculture is often the main source of income. Ex-Im Bank helped get BHN set up on this global path. “No small business could make it internationally without the Ex-Im Bank,” said Mr. Merrill.

Furthermore, the Ex-Im Bank allows BHN, as a small company, to compete against the large agricultural mega-corporations around the world. “It’s the rock in our sling,” said Mr. Merrill. “It’s what allows David to contend with Goliath.”

“It would close us out of many global markets if Ex-Im goes away,” he said. Without the Bank, foreign customers wouldn’t have access to high quality American products, and BHN wouldn’t be able to help farmers all around the world “bring nutrition back to their crops, sweet back to their watermelons, and fragrance back to their roses.”