The small-business problem: Limited access to, and knowledge of, foreign markets. President Obama and Congress think they have the solution — and a way to boost business and jobs.

Let’s start with a question. Do you know the function of the Export-Import Bank of the United States? If not, maybe you should.

The E-IB is the official American export credit agency. It guarantees and grants loans, provides insurance, on secures payments due from foreign customers. The bank has seven regional offices to help small businesses export their goods and services. And we may be talking about small business, but we’re not talking about small potatoes: Last year, the bank was involved in facilitating $4.36 billion in 2,540 transactions for small business that exported goods and services.

And now, Congress and the president want the bank to do more. Last month, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship approved legislation to authorize the E-IB and other agencies, such as the Small Business Administration, to focus more efforts on helping smaller companies tap into the export market.

Here’s a New York Times profile of two typical companies that already have been helped:

• Engineered Systems and Equipment, a manufacturer of animal feed processing equipment in Kansas, had 20 employees 18 months ago, when the E-IB helped the company broker a $500,000 deal to sell products to a Honduran company. Now, as a result of the deal, Engineering Systems and Equipment has doubled its workforce.
• Weldy-Lamont Associates, a 13-employee engineering firm in Illinois, worked with the E-IB to get a five-year contract in Ghana to put up utility poles and string lines. And the company is working on similar deals with other small nations.

To learn more, go to the Export-Import Bank site and click on the link “Small Business Portal.”