Senate field hearing to promote N.H. exports

U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte are jointly presenting a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee field hearing aimed at helping New Hampshire small-business owners increase their international trade efforts.The event, planned to start at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, at the University of New Hampshire Manchester, will focus on “The Role of Exports in Small Business Growth and Job Creation.”The goal of the event is to encourage more business owners to expand overseas by examining federal programs created to aid small businesses, the senators said.”Growing our exports is critical to growing our economy and we have to do more to help small businesses access foreign markets,” Shaheen said.Ayotte said the hearing also will include participation by New Hampshire business owners “whose testimony will provide the Small Business Committee with insight on how we can eliminate barriers to growth and expand their global customer base.”Besides Shaheen and Ayotte, those participating in the meeting, include: Marie Johns, deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration; Wanda Felton, vice chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States; James Cox, regional director of the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service, Department of Commerce; Dawn Wivell, former director, New Hampshire International Trade Resource Center; Grace Preston, international sales manager, Secure Care; Richard Friedman, president and CEO, Carpenter & Company Inc; and Thomas Moulton, President and CEO, Sleepnet Corp. — NATALIE GLISSON/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW