Pacific Mercantile Bank has become the latest partner-bank in the U.S. Global Business Solutions Program, a new interagency initiative designed to expand the reach of federal export assistance and add 50,000 small businesses to the nation's exporter base by 2017. The pilot program will also aim at expanding the base of financial institutions and service providers that facilitate exports, adding an anticipated 250 trade-finance sources by December 2015.

U.S. Global Business Solutions will bundle U.S. government trade-finance products for lenders and exporters. The programs and products will be combined into a single menu of options that will be tailored to the stage of the exporter's development and the capacity of the financial institution or service provider. The initiative will be designed to make it easier and more cost-effective for exporters to use the programs and products of multiple agencies. Six federal agencies are participating: Ex-Im Bank, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Commerce/International Trade Administration, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

"We are proud to be chosen as one of a select few banks in the country that have been designated as partners; we have been chosen at this time because of the experience and knowledge of our bankers such as Senior Vice President Pete Ramirez, who is not only an expert in the Ex-Im products, but is also very knowledgeable in other export related assistance programs from other government agencies such as SBA, USTDA, DOC, DOA and OPIC," stated Steven K. Buster, President and CEO of PMB.

"We are delighted to partner with Pacific Mercantile Bank as part of the U.S. Global Solutions Program," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. "Pacific Mercantile Bank's support of U.S. exporters enhances the appeal of the "Made in America" brand abroad and boosts small-business jobs here at home."

Pacific Mercantile Bancorp is the parent holding company of Pacific Mercantile Bank ("PMB"). PMB is an FDIC insured, California state-chartered bank and a member of the Federal Reserve System, which provides a wide range of commercial banking services to businesses, business professionals and individual clients through its combination of traditional banking financial centers and comprehensive, sophisticated electronic banking services.