WASHINGTON — November 19, 2012 — NCTO Executive Committee Member and CEO of Frontier Spinning Mills, John Bakane was recently appointed to serve as the U.S. textile industry representative on the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank or Bank) Advisory Committee. Bakane has led a rich three decade career in the textile industry serving as CFO and CEO of Cone Mills Corporation and Cone Denim prior to assuming leadership of Frontier Spinning Mills. Bakane's role on the Bank's Advisory Committee will be to provide recommendations on export financing products to the Ex-Im Board of Directors and the Bank President, Fred Hochberg.
NCTO President, Cass Johnson applauded the Ex-Im Bank for selecting Bakane to the Advisory Committee. "I am pleased that the Ex-Im Board of Directors selected Frontier Spinning Mills CEO John Bakane to serve on the Bank's Advisory Committee. Bakane has a strong background in finance and has lead U.S. companies like Cone Denim into international prominence." Johnson continued, "The U.S. textile industry exports 75 percent of its production, and as industry exports increase creative export financing arrangements will become more and more necessary, and the textile industry will greatly benefit from Bakane's service as part of the Advisory Committee."
NCTO was instrumental in working with Congress, specifically Representative Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) in creating a position for the U.S. textile industry on the Bank's Advisory Committee. "NCTO applauds Rep. Westmoreland and Sen. Hagan for recognizing the need for this important position on the Advisory Committee, and we thank both leaders for working with the industry to ensure its creation." Johnson stated.
ABOUT EX-IM BANK:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years (from Fiscal Year 2008), Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $35.8 billion in total authorizations in FY 2012 - an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6.1 billion directly supporting small-business export sales - also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $50 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 255,000 American jobs in communities across the country.
