FirmGreen Inc. Hosts Ex-Im Bank Chairman to Discuss Green-Tech Jobs and Trade
FirmGreen Inc. (FirmGreen), a small renewable-energy company based in Newport Beach, Calif., hosted Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg at its headquarters this week to discuss green-tech jobs and trade: FirmGreen’s growing portfolio of patented green technology is positioned to lead an expanding global market for “green-tech” products being manufactured in the U.S.
FirmGreen’s growing portfolio of patented green technology positions the company to capitalize on the rapid growth of the multi-billion dollar energy conservation and building security marketplace.
One of the hot topics for discussion was FirmGreen’s recently developed and patented LED-based lighting solution that delivers about 50% energy savings in lighting costs compared to traditional incandescent or fluorescent lighting, resulting in a significant reduction of overall energy costs for facility owners. Currently, the largest markets for this energy saving technology are international, and that’s where Export-Import Bank financing makes a difference. In 2013, almost 90% of Ex-Im’s loan activity was to small businesses like FirmGreen, helping to support the expansion of U.S. green-tech exports and the skilled manufacturing jobs they create.
FirmGreen expects to create as many as 200 Orange County based skilled manufacturing green-tech jobs as its LED lighting product is launched, with up to 200 additional indirect jobs being created or supported as a result of international exports of the product line. “We are excited to announce the expansion of our Intellectual Property portfolio with our newly patented LED Lighting technologies. FirmGreen is now well positioned for rapid growth in the multi-billion dollar energy conservation and building security marketplace.” stated Steve Wilburn, CEO of FirmGreen.
“ExIm Bank is focused on creating good paying jobs for American workers by assisting small business owners, like FirmGreen, in exporting quality American goods and services, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “The worldwide marketplace will properly determine if an American made product or service is of high quality and cost competitive. We want to ensure that innovative companies like FirmGreen never lose a qualified order because of lack of export finance.”
In 2013, FirmGreen completed a $49 million biogas-to-energy project in Brazil, harnessing potentially harmful landfill gas from one of the world’s largest landfills to produce clean biomethane that reduces the need for fossil fuel use to power a nearby facility. FirmGreen benefited from an Ex-Im Bank loan that supported the export of its equipment and services, including the generation of 165 new jobs at FirmGreen’s U.S. based facilities and at other companies in seven states. FirmGreen’s CEO, Steve Wilburn, was recently reappointed to serve on the Ex-Im Bank’s Advisory Committee for 2014 to represent the environmental sector.
About FirmGreen:
FirmGreen Inc. is a privately held, integrated energy company that participates in virtually all aspects of the global green-energy business. FirmGreen identifies, develops and commercializes new and emerging technologies and alternative fuels. Headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., the company has 37 employees in it management and manufacturing facilities. The company also has U.S.-based employees in Brazil. For more information on this privately held, entrepreneurial organization, please visit www.firmgreen.com, Facebook and Twitter.
For interviews requests with FirmGreen’s CEO Steve Wilburn, please contact Corporate Office Manager, Margaret von Tiesenhausen, at 949.270.2941,
About Ex-Im Bank:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that creates and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. 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. In the past fiscal year alone, Ex-Im Bank earned for U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion above the cost of operations.
In FY 2013, Ex-Im Bank approved more than $27 billion in total authorizations to support an estimated $37.4 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 205,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For the year, the Bank approved a record 3,413 transactions– or 89 percent–for small-businesses. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.
