Dale Andersen, president and CEO of Delkor Systems, joined about 50 other leaders of small and medium-sized businesses at the White House last month to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership and related export opportunities. Andersen was invited to the trade fly-in of the White House Business Council because Delkor, an IDFA Gold Business Partner, won the Minnesota Governor’s International Trade Award in 2012 in recognition of the company’s significant export growth.

Ambassador Robert Hollyman, deputy U.S. Trade Representative, opened the meeting along with Greg Nelson, special assistant to the President and senior advisor to the National Economic Council. They stressed the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying it is critically important to U.S. businesses and the single most important part of President Obama’s economic agenda.

“Ambassador Hollyman commented that 95 percent of the world’s customers live outside the United States, and with small business accounting for about one-third of all exports, trade legislation is very much in the interest of American small and medium-sized businesses,” Andersen said.

According to Andersen, Hollyman explained that the consumer market in TPP countries is expected to grow six-fold over the next 15 years, increasing from 525 million people today to more than 2.7 billion people by 2030. Those consumers will provide a voracious market for exports from America’s small and mid-sized companies, Andersen said, reinforcing his support for the trade agreement.

Other speakers at the meeting included Fred Hochberg, president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and Jason Furman, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, who discussed efforts to help small businesses with export financing. According to Andersen, Hochberg said approximately 25 percent of Ex-Im Bank loans by dollar volume were supporting small business exports.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is an agreement among 12 countries that would open new trade opportunities for Americans in the Asia Pacific regions. For more details, read “Overview of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”