Huntington Bank Receives National Award for Export Service Excellence

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Huntington (NASDAQ: HBAN) is a winner of the 2013 President’s “E Star” Award for Export Service. Presented by the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, the award is the highest recognition any U.S. entity may receive for supporting export activity. Huntington stands out as the only banking institution among a handful of corporate America’s top companies to receive the award presented at the 51st annual President’s “E” Award Ceremony in Washington D.C. on May 20 during World Trade Month.

“Huntington has demonstrated a sustained commitment to export expansion,” said Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca M. Blank in her congratulatory letter. “The ‘E’ Awards Committee was very impressed with Huntington’s achievement with regional business and trade promotion groups. The company’s development of creative financing solutions for exporters was particularly compelling. Huntington’s achievements have undoubtedly contributed to national export expansion efforts that support the U.S. economy and create American jobs.”

Among its most notable contributions to Midwest export expansion, Huntington began offering manufacturers the ability to finance foreign buyers that want to buy American products. The bank also developed an export finance capability by actuating its delegated lending authority under the U.S. Export-Import Bank Working Capital Program. Huntington has provided a mix of international services, trade services and foreign exchange since the mid-1970s and last received a President’s “E” Award in 1982.

The Midwest currently accounts for $241 billion in U.S. exports - part of the larger $2.1 trillion export-import mega market, which experienced 17.1 percent growth over the last three years. Over the next five years 87 percent of world economic growth is forecasted to take place outside of the U.S. according to the International Monetary Fund.

Capitalizing on these trends, Huntington appointed veteran international banker Sheila Spradlin Reich late last year to expand its international banking services into a unified team of trade services, foreign-owned subsidiaries and U.S. Export-Import Bank lending that operates seamlessly with Huntington’s extensive commercial banking treasury management and capital markets divisions. She has since assembled a team of specialists further aligning the bank culturally with language fluency and tailored financial expertise serving European and Latin American mid- to large-size corporates and Asian foreign-owned subsidiaries across Huntington's footprint.

Huntington’s leadership in helping companies increase their export activity is directly tied to the bank’s broader efforts to help drive economic growth and recovery across the Midwest. It’s estimated that 5,400 direct and indirect jobs are created for every $1 billion in new exports.*

“As a Midwest company, Huntington is at the heart of the economic recovery,” said Spradlin Reich. “Exporters are playing a vital role in creating and sustaining our economy as evidenced by those who’ve weathered the recession. We’ve deepened our international banking expertise at Huntington and are committed to helping exporters and the Midwest continue to benefit from their expansion and growth.”

Huntington will expand its export-import business relationships in 2013 and beyond with plans of rolling out customized solutions including a new foreign buyer finance program that provides foreign borrowing with loans guaranteed through Export-Import Bank of the United States.

The “E” Award Program was established by Executive Order on December 5, 1961. A second level of the award is the “E Star” Award, which was authorized by the Secretary of Commerce in 1969 to recognize previous “E” Award winners for continued significant contributions to U.S. export expansion. The awards ceremony serves as a reminder that the U.S. has the best workers and the best businesses in the world, and of the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration’s continued efforts to ensure that American businesses get a fair shot in the global economy.

About Huntington
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $56 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The Huntington National Bank, founded in 1866, provides full-service commercial, small business, and consumer banking services; mortgage banking services; treasury management and foreign exchange services; equipment leasing; wealth and investment management services; trust services; brokerage services; customized insurance brokerage and service programs; and other financial products and services. The principal markets for these services are Huntington’s six-state banking franchise: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The primary distribution channels include a banking network of more than 700 traditional branches and convenience branches located in grocery stores and retirement centers, and through an array of alternative distribution channels including internet and mobile banking, telephone banking, and more than 1,400 ATMs. Through automotive dealership relationships within its six-state banking franchise area and selected other Midwest and New England states, Huntington also provides commercial banking services to the automotive dealers and retail automobile financing for dealer customers.

* International Trade Administration, 2010, “Exports Support American Jobs,” Washington.

The Huntington National Bank, Member FDIC. The logo mark^® and Huntington^® are federally registered service marks of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated.

Huntington
Michael K. Sherman, 614-480-6114
michael.sherman@huntington.com

Source: Huntington Bancshares Incorporated

Released May 21, 2013