(Nashua, NH) – This afternoon, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) joined business leaders at Geophysical Survey Systems, Inc. to announce the introduction of her new legislation the Export Promotion Act, which will make it easier for businesses to sell across international borders. Her bill will consolidate many of the export assistance programs under the Department of Commerce to improve access to resources for small businesses that are seeking to grow their exports or begin exporting.

“Exports hold so much potential for small businesses in New Hampshire to increase their revenue and reach new customers,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “Unfortunately, too many small businesses find it difficult to navigate the maze of agencies and programs set up to support export efforts. My bill would help create a one-stop shop for small businesses seeking assistance to increase their exports. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy in the Granite State, and if we can make it easier for our companies to sell overseas they will continue to grow and create jobs.”

“It was a pleasure to host Congresswoman Ann Kuster and Zenagui Brahim, President of the NH Manufacturing Extension Partnership,” said Chris Hawekotte, President of Geophysical Survey Systems, Inc. “The employees of GSSI were excited to learn about the Export Promotion Act, and we are hopeful that it will simplify the export of our products and support our efforts to pursue new markets worldwide. ” 

“American businesses are fortunate that there are a variety of resources available to assist them in exporting; however, these resources are spread across an array of federal agencies, making it challenging for exporters—especially smaller businesses—to identify and access them,” said James T. Brett, President & CEO of the New England Council. “In this legislation, Representative Kuster has put forth a commonsense, practical approach to streamlining and improving access to these federal resources, which will in turn enable more businesses to export, create jobs, and drive economic growth.”

While federal programs promoting exports have a noble objective, they are strewn across more than a dozen different departments and federal agencies. This results in an overly complex and inefficient bureaucracy that does not maximize the effectiveness of these services.

Kuster’s legislation would specifically:

• Eliminate overlapping programs and redundancies of federal export assistance to maximize limited federal resources.
• Enable more efficient metrics to measure the effectiveness and accessibility of export assistance.
• Create a “one-stop-shop” to cut bureaucracy and red tape for businesses seeking export assistance.

Since taking office, Kuster has prioritized efforts to boost exports and create jobs and opportunity for middle class families in New Hampshire. She was vocal about the need to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank and brought together New Hampshire businesses to call for reauthorization of the Bank.

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