When Augustus Pela sought overseas buyers for LeapEnergy USA, the challenge was not only finding demand. It was getting paid on a timeline his company could survive.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States identified Pela as an African American small-business owner and described his company’s export challenge in a 2021 account. EXIM said LeapEnergy needed to compete by offering foreign buyers payment terms instead of demanding full cash in advance. Pela used export credit insurance to help manage the risk that an overseas buyer would not pay, according to EXIM’s Black Business Month exporter summary ↗.
That example points to a common export-finance problem for smaller firms: international sales often require cash before they produce cash. A purchase order can require inventory, materials, labor, shipping deposits, compliance work and supplier payments before a foreign buyer’s money arrives.
For Black-owned exporters, the financing structure can decide whether a promising overseas order becomes profitable growth or a cash-flow trap.
Why export orders can strain Black-owned firms
Black-owned employer businesses remain a small share of the U.S. business base. The Census Bureau’s 2024 Annual Business Survey, covering reference year 2023, reported about 201,000 Black or African American-owned employer firms, or 3.4% of employer firms, with $249 billion in receipts, according to Census data released in 2025 ↗.
Exporting can help firms diversify customers and reach larger markets. But it can also stretch the cash conversion cycle. The Minority Business Development Agency has identified export financing as a barrier for minority business enterprises and has discussed how information gaps and financing constraints can limit export growth, in its minority exporters report ↗.
The practical problem is simple. An exporter may have a real buyer and a signed order, but still need cash to build or source the product. The foreign buyer may ask for open-account terms, meaning payment after delivery. A domestic supplier may want payment before shipment. A lender may ask how the exporter will handle collection risk, country risk, documentation and repayment if the foreign invoice is not paid on time.
For related Black business capital coverage, see [/minority-business-capital-access/](/minority-business-capital-access/), [/sba-lending-for-black-owned-businesses/](/sba-lending-for-black-owned-businesses/) and [/black-owned-manufacturers/](/black-owned-manufacturers/).
What export credit insurance does
Export credit insurance addresses a central fear in the transaction: What if the overseas buyer does not pay?
EXIM says its export credit insurance can protect against certain commercial and political risks and may cover up to 95% of the sales invoice, depending on the policy and transaction, according to the agency’s page on support for minority-owned businesses ↗.
Open-account terms can make a U.S. exporter more competitive because the buyer receives goods or services before full payment comes due. But insurance is not the same as cash. A policy protects against covered nonpayment. It does not automatically pay for raw materials, production labor or freight before the customer pays.
Its working-capital value depends on how the exporter uses it. Insurance may help the owner offer terms, negotiate a customer deposit or show a lender that a foreign receivable has some protection. EXIM says its financing tools can help exporters obtain working capital and manage payment risk, according to its financing overview ↗.
In Pela’s public case, EXIM described insurance as a tool that helped LeapEnergy offer foreign buyers payment terms. The public summary does not say whether a bank advanced cash against insured receivables or whether LeapEnergy used insurance mainly to reduce nonpayment risk while financing production another way. That distinction matters for any owner trying to copy the structure.
Deposits can reduce the cash gap
EXIM’s 2021 summary also highlighted Ben Moore, identified by the agency as an African American small-business owner, in connection with ATMOS360 Manufacturing. EXIM said Moore used export credit insurance, negotiated a percentage of the invoice up front and financed the balance on credit terms.
That structure shows one way exporters handle the cash gap: split the risk.
A buyer pays a portion of the invoice in advance. The exporter uses that deposit to start production or cover supplier costs. The remaining balance gets paid later, often after shipment, installation or acceptance. Insurance can protect the receivable if the buyer does not pay for covered reasons. A lender may then view that insured receivable as stronger collateral than an uninsured foreign invoice, subject to underwriting.
The Moore example also shows why export-finance reporting needs precision. EXIM’s account presented ATMOS360 as an exporter case. Steimel Metal Fab says on its website that ATMOS360 closed in late 2019 and that Steimel acquired the product line, according to Steimel’s company history ↗. Without direct confirmation from Moore, it would be inaccurate to describe ATMOS360 as currently operating under him.
What is documented is narrower but still useful: EXIM publicly used Moore’s experience to illustrate how a Black-owned manufacturer combined insurance, advance payment and credit terms to support export sales.
The loan tools behind the invoice
Exporters have several government-backed options when a bank will not lend enough against an overseas order on ordinary terms.
The International Trade Administration says export working-capital financing helps U.S. businesses buy goods and services needed to support export sales. Both EXIM and the Small Business Administration offer export working-capital support through lenders, according to ITA’s export working-capital guide ↗.
Through participating lenders, the SBA Export Working Capital Program can support short-term financing for small-business exporters, with loans up to $5 million, according to SBA’s export loan program page ↗. ITA says export working-capital financing can help cover pre-export costs, such as labor and materials, and post-shipment financing of accounts receivable tied to export sales.
EXIM’s Working Capital Guarantee Program also supports loans made by commercial lenders. EXIM describes the program as a way for exporters to obtain working capital to fulfill export sales, including financing for costs tied to producing or purchasing goods for export and support for export-related receivables. Exporters should confirm eligible uses with a participating lender and EXIM before treating any expense as financeable.
The exact mechanics depend on the lender, the borrower and the transaction. Government guarantees do not mean automatic approval, and published program limits do not guarantee a specific loan amount. Lenders still underwrite the exporter’s credit, buyer quality, collateral, repayment source, export documents and compliance risk.
SBA also announced a 7(a) Working Capital Pilot Program in 2024. SBA described it as a monitored line-of-credit program for asset-based and transaction-based working-capital needs, according to the agency’s program announcement ↗. Exporters should ask a participating lender whether a proposed mix of domestic and international orders fits the pilot’s current rules.
Another tool, EXIM’s Supply Chain Finance Guarantee, serves a narrower purpose than ordinary foreign-buyer receivables factoring. EXIM describes it as support for eligible U.S. suppliers in export supply chains that seek early payment on receivables through a participating lender, according to the agency’s supply-chain finance program description ↗. A Black-owned company that supplies a larger U.S. exporter may find that structure relevant, but it is not the same as selling any overseas invoice.
How owners can structure the order
Public programs create capacity, not certainty. An exporter still needs documentation. Lenders typically want to understand the buyer, invoice, purchase order, product, country risk, shipping terms, margin, production schedule, collateral, insurance policy and repayment source.
For a Black-owned manufacturer, food company, energy firm or medical-equipment supplier, the capital question should start with the order itself:
Who is the buyer? What country? What payment term? What must the exporter spend before shipment? Will the buyer pay a deposit? Will a supplier extend credit? Will a lender advance against inventory or receivables? Is the receivable insured? Are the goods eligible under U.S. content and export rules?
That last point is not paperwork trivia. Exporters must satisfy destination, buyer, product and end-use restrictions. EXIM also has content rules for short-term support, described in its short-term content policy ↗. A deal that fails compliance review may not be financeable through these channels.
A practical structure may layer several tools. A Black-owned exporter might use a customer deposit to start production, supplier credit to delay some input costs, export credit insurance to protect the foreign receivable and an SBA- or EXIM-backed line to fund the remaining gap. If the company supplies a larger exporter, supply-chain finance may help. If it has both domestic and export orders, an SBA working-capital line may be worth discussing with a participating lender.
Owners should treat these tools as general financing options, not one-size-fits-all advice. Program rules, lender appetite, buyer quality and export-compliance requirements can change the answer.
The lesson from Pela’s EXIM account is direct: payment terms can determine whether an international sale is realistic. The lesson from Moore’s documented example is equally practical: deposits and insured terms can make a foreign receivable easier to finance.
For Black-owned exporters, the win is not merely landing an overseas buyer. It is structuring the payment path so the company can afford to deliver.