Ex-Im Foregone Deal Of The Day: Small, Employee-Owned Aircraft Manufacturer In Olney, Texas Will “Suffer Dramatically” If Ex-Im Isn’t Reauthorized

Texas-based Air Tractor was flying high on this day four years ago.

 

The company, which employs 260 people in the small town of Olney, secured $1.6 million in export credit insurance to sell small agricultural planes to Paulo Massayoshi Mizote, a Brazilian farming company.

 

Unfortunately, if Air Tractor applied for this same financing assistance to make a deal work with that Brazilian customer today, it would be out of luck. That’s because Congress let the Ex-Im Bank’s charter expire on June 30.

 

Without export credit insurance, Air Tractor would not have had the security and confidence it needed to export to Brazil. That means their customer likely would have bought the planes it needs from another business elsewhere in the world.

 

Air Tractor’s vice president of finance, David Ickert, explained the perilous situation his company is now in because of the lapse in Ex-Im’s charter in a recent op-ed in the Houston Chronicle:

 

“Our company, Air Tractor, has manufactured agriculture aircraft in the small Texas town of Olney for more than 40 years and we export our products to scores of countries on six continents,” he said. “Ex-Im Bank is critical to our business and our ability to create and sustain jobs. Air Tractor is owned by its 265 employees, who would suffer dramatically if Congress fails to re-authorize Ex-Im Bank.”

 

Thousands of other businesses are also now suffering because of Ex-Im’s inability to authorize new financing. On just this day over the past five years, Ex-Im financed $30.2 million for 34 businesses that helped job creators across the country to export products and support jobs in the U.S.

 

Congress needs to recognize the harm its inaction is causing to U.S. job creators and manufacturers. The longer Congress waits to reauthorize Ex-Im, the more damage they do to the American economy.

 

Click here to read more stories about how Ex-Im is critical to supporting U.S. exporters and their workers.