MORGANTOWN — Kimberly Reed, president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, views her job as two-fold.
Support U.S. jobs and protect taxpayers.
“Listen to the news,” said Reed, the inaugural speaker in the WVU Distinguished Speaker Series. “You need to know what is going on in the world.”
Reed, a native of Buckhannon who earned her law degree from West Virginia University in 1996, is the first female to head the Export-Import Bank, an entity established in 1934 by Franklin Roosevelt, and now serves as the official export credit agency of the federal government.
The bank, also known as EXIM, has $135 billion in capital. It assumes credit and financing risks that the private sector can’t, or is not willing to do. Despite its mandate, EXIM has a low default rate because all transactions it authorizes have a reasonable assurance of being repaid.
“We’re open for business in 191 countries,” said Reed, who was sworn-in in May following a confirmation process that lasted more than two years. She was appointed to the position by President Donald Trump. EXIM is one of 113 Export-Import Banks around the world.
“(The bank) is at no cost to the taxpayer, and it levels the playing field,” said Reed, noting that Trump told her to do “great things.”
In her talk Monday at WVU School of Law, Reed said two of the biggest obstacles the United States faces are Russia and China. Both countries, but especially China, she said, will take over properties around the world that were owned by entities that defaulted on loans. Reed said 20% of EXIM’s portfolio is geared toward “taking on” China and its lending policies.
“Congress gave us the mandate to challenge China directly,” she said.
Reed said during her talk to the predominately law school crowd that it is important to pay attention in legal research and writing classes. She said those classes taught her skills that are critical not only to her career, but life as well.
“You’re also going to have to have a strategic plan when you get out in the real world,” said Reed, who credits mentors during her time at West Virginia Wesleyan to steering her toward the legal profession.
“It is a thing called character,” she said. “And as West Virginians, you have it,” she said.
Prior to becoming the EXIM chief, Reed was most recently president of the International Food Information Council.
Reed has also been with the U.S. Department of Treasury, where she was in charge of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. In that position, she oversaw the awarding of $4 billion in tax credits, loans and grants to financial institutions, and economic development groups investing in distressed communities. In addition, Reed, 48, has served as senior advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretaries John Snow and Henry Paulson.
TWEET @41Suzanne
