Companies will have the opportunity to schedule individual appointments with the agencies to discuss their international business expansion in the afternoon. Please note which agencies you would like to meet with when your register.

Inter-American Development Bank: Aaron Held, Advisor and Director of Business Liaison, Office of the U.S. Executive Director, Inter-American Development Bank

Aaron Held is a career diplomat representing the United States Department of Commerce. He is currently on assignment at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, DC, where his mission is to help U.S. companies identify and access business opportunities related to IDB projects in the 26 borrowing member countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mr. Held has served previously at: U.S. Embassy Bogota, Colombia; U.S. Embassy Tokyo, Japan (twice); U.S. Consulate General Monterrey, Mexico; U.S. Export Assistance Center San Jose, California; and on temporary assignments at U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Department of Commerce Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is a recipient of the Bronze Medal, the Department of Commerce International Trade Administration’s highest award. Prior to his diplomatic service Mr. Held was Associate Director for External Affairs at the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. He holds a master’s degree in international affairs from the University of California, San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, and speaks Japanese and Spanish. He is married to the former Yasuko Uchida.

Millennium Challenge Corporation: Jason Bauer, Director of Private Sector Development

BA in Economics and Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; MBA, Cornell University, Johnson School of Business as Michael Torphy scholar. Formerly: with World Bank: experience on microcredit, SME and rural finance project; Peace Corps Volunteer, West Africa, consulting on small enterprise development and microcredit in Benin; with financial institution performing financial and strategic analysis on multi-million dollar transactions; associate, OTF Group, worked with private and public sector leaders on strategy issues. With MCC: Associate Country Director, Namibia and Gambia; currently, Director, Private Sector Initiatives team, Department of Policy and International Relations, coordinates with country teams Compact Development, Compact Implementation, Congressional and Public Affairs, and General Counsel’s office, manages relationships with private sector organizations.

Overseas Private Investment Corporation: Alison Germak, Director of Corporate Development

Ms. Alison Germak is the Director of Corporate Development in the Small & Medium Enterprise Finance department at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the primary agency of the U.S. Government tasked with facilitating U.S. private investment into emerging markets. In this role, Ms. Germak is responsible for counseling U.S. companies seeking financing, evaluating new project proposals and loan applications, and developing new business opportunities. Ms. Germak is also responsible for leading her department’s outreach efforts to the U.S. business community and cultivating relationships with key federal and local partners. She conducts frequent trainings on OPIC programs and speaks regularly at conferences on international business and development. Ms. Germak joined OPIC in 2004, first serving in OPIC’s Office of External Affairs. Ms. Germak holds a M.A. in International Commerce and Policy with an emphasis in Global Business from George Mason University, School of Public Policy.

United States Trade & Development Agency: Anna Humphrey, Strategic Communications Advisor

Anna Humphrey serves as the Strategic Communications Manager at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, where she leads outreach efforts that amplify the Agency’s success in linking U.S. companies to global infrastructure opportunities. Ms. Humphrey advises the Agency’s Director on messaging for speeches and Congressional hearings, directs the development of the Agency’s budget requests and annual publications, and develops communications strategies for priority Administration initiatives, including Power Africa and the Climate Action Plan. Prior to joining USTDA, Ms. Humphrey was a Management Analyst reporting directly to the Chief Information Officer at the White House. In this role, she facilitated decision-making on technology issues by senior White House leaders and other non-technical staff. Ms. Humphrey was also a Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, providing communications and programmatic support to defense clients, including the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer. Ms. Humphrey, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, graduated with honors from the University of Dayton.

Small Business Administration (SBA): Robert Elsas, Regional Manager, Export Solutions Group, Office of International Trade

Robert Elsas is currently the Regional Manager for the Export Solutions Group, part of the Office of International Trade of the U.S. Small Business Administration, which covers Eastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Elsas previously covered Eastern New York, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Delaware from January 1997 to 2012. Prior to his position at the USEAC, Mr. Elsas served as Assistant Regional Administrator in the six-state Mid-Atlantic Region for SBA from 1994 to 1997. Mr. Elsas coordinated relations between lenders and district offices and provided assistance to key communities in developing economic development strategies for the six-state. Before joining SBA in 1991, Mr. Elsas worked for the Defense Logistics Agency, part of the Department of Defense, for ten years, served as a procurement contracting officer at the Defense Personnel Support Center, and as an international buyer for medical supplies and equipment. Additionally, he worked at Defense Contract Management Command (DCMC) in Denver, Colorado. At DCMC he served as an administrative contracting officer, and industrial engineer specialist, responsible for military battlefield production evaluations in support of Defense contracts for the States’ of Utah, Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. Overall, Mr. Elsas has 10 years of Defense contract management experience and 21 years of international lending experience, underwriting over $100 million of Government guaranteed loans.

Exhibitors Include:

• Core PA Global
• Fulton International Group
• Kutztown Small Business Development Center (Government Procurement)
• MANTEC
• SEDA Council of Governments (Government Procurement)
• Susquehanna Bank, a division of BB&T
• UPS
• US Export Assistance Center
• World Trade PA