FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Export-Import Bank Success: Gatekeeper Security
Small Business Doubles Growth With Liquidity and Risk Protection from Ex-Im Bank
Washington, D.C. – Gatekeeper Security, a small technology firm in Sterling, Va., has doubled its year-over-year growth since 2010 when the company began using two financing tools of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank): export-credit insurance and Global Credit Express, the Bank’s direct loan for small businesses.
Using Ex-Im’s small-business products, Gatekeeper has increased exports of its under-vehicle security systems to achieve more than $10 million in total sales. Ninety-five percent of its products are exported to the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. The company’s equipment is now found in 28 countries, including Mexico, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Small businesses need liquidity and risk protection to grow through exporting,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “We developed Global Credit Express to provide exporters with working capital loans under $500,000, which usually aren’t available from commercial lenders. Ex-Im Bank can fill that lending gap, and we want more small businesses to experience the kind of growth that Gatekeeper has achieved.”
“Ex-Im’s credit insurance policy has allowed us to use the credit standing of Ex-Im Bank to guarantee bank letters of credit issued by foreign banks to fund pre-shipment financing. And now with the Global Credit Express facility, we have a further means to fund the materials and labor costs required to meet foreign orders,” said Gatekeeper Security CEO Christopher Millar.
Gatekeeper Security develops and deploys advanced screening technology to enable its customers to search under vehicles from a safe distance. Gatekeeper’s automatic under-vehicle inspection systems are designed to provide a first line of defense against threats to ground transportation and are integrated with other entry-point control technologies. The company has 12 employees in Sterling and 10 additional employees based in Dubai and Mexico.
