Fred Hochberg

America’s posture toward global trade has experienced a dramatic shift as of late. Gone are the days that the US plays an active role lowering trade barriers and enabling American business to aggressively enter new markets backed by pro-globalization policy tailwinds. Now America is hands off while the rest of the world is defined by ever-increasing levels of government support for businesses’ pursuit of trade opportunities. As the longest-serving Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Fred Hochberg can relay lessons from working in and traveling to more than 45 countries on behalf of American exporters and workers, laying out some surprising truths about global trade, and knocking down commonly held but misguided assumptions. Fred can help audiences understand how to navigate today’s shifting trade landscape, advising on how to succeed overseas, utilize existing U.S. government resources, and win big deals – particularly in the face of rising business threats from the likes of India and China.

And on the homefront, he will challenge audiences to consider innovative solutions to forge a new bipartisan consensus on trade that might actually level the playing field for American companies and workers.

“Made in the USA” is one of our strongest brands and sells products worldwide.  And America still does make a lot of things the world wants to buy. It’s an assertion that you won’t hear from many politicians these days, but it is rooted in simple facts: we remain the world’s second largest exporter—while also attracting high levels of investment from overseas. Fred Hochberg will discuss the industries that will allow America to retain and improve these advantageous positions in the global economy, and educate audiences about the impact they have for tens of thousands of supply chain businesses, many of which are small businesses. He will also share anecdotes and lessons learned during his eight years working with top executives, financing some of the biggest deals in the aviation, oil and gas, space, infrastructure, agribusiness, and other sectors—including his work with innovative small businesses that have grown into leading global companies. He can also convey the ways your industry can frame its own competitive advantage with policymakers here at home and with customers overseas.

Fred Hochberg will detail the two times in his long career in business, academia and government where the enterprises he led were driven to the brink. At Lillian Vernon, the family business he helped lead for 20 years, the near-collapse occurred as demand outpaced the company’s capacity to fulfill orders in the early 1980s. The company recovered, continued its growth and went public in 1987. At EXIM, the injury was inflicted by Congress, which shut down the agency’s ability to do any new deals for five months in 2015, only to reauthorize the Bank’s charter later that year. He will relay the lessons learned from both experiences, including the need for clear external and internal communication, and the ways these inevitable tests can strengthen businesses and institutions.