Biography
Throughout his career, Mr. Eskeland specialized in the areas of foreign affairs, trade, international economics, and small business, and shepherded 11 bills that were signed into law by the President. He substantially influenced the direction of 20 other legislative initiatives that were also signed into law, shaped over 20 Executive Branch actions, and successfully carried out over 130 Congressional hearings, round-tables, and inter-parliamentary exchanges. Mr. Eskeland wrote over a dozen op-eds and letters to the editor which were printed in national publications. He also ran a bipartisan House Caucus group.
Mr. Eskeland worked for 12 years on the House Small Business Committee, first as Senior Professional Staff for the Subcommittee on Tax, Finance and Exports and then as Deputy Chief of Staff and Policy Director for the full committee under the chairmanship of Congressman Manzullo. His notable legislative achievements include leading the legislative team that successfully reauthorized the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in 1999, which preserved an annual $240 million surplus for the U.S. Treasury, fixed the subsidy rate calculation in the 7(a) business guarantee loan program of the Small Business Administration (SBA) that resulted in freeing up $4 billion in additional capital for small business during an economic downturn at no cost to the taxpayer, created the Supplemental Terrorist Activity Recovery (STAR) loan program that helped over 8,200 small businesses access $3.7 billion in new capital in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, ended the annual subsidy appropriation for the 7(a) loan program, which saved the taxpayers at least $79 million each year and put the program on a steady course. He also created the medium-term delegated authority program to support small business export loans of up to $10 million backed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
After his time on Capitol Hill, Mr. Eskeland became the Executive Director of the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI), serving under KEI President & CEO Donald Manzullo for six years. He was responsible for the daily administrative operations and overall policy direction at KEI. Mr. Eskeland wrote over 60 pieces for KEI’s The Peninsula blog, The Hill newspaper, and The Diplomat magazine, and has appeared on several television and radio programs. He also developed and implemented KEI’s Congressional outreach strategy that included the creation of customized fact sheets documenting the amount of trade and investment between each individual Congressional district or state and South Korea. This effort helped inform the debate regarding the efficacy of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement when both he and Mr. Manzullo personally visited nearly 300 Congressional offices and the White House to discuss U.S.-Korea relations during their tenure at KEI.
Personal Note:
I was born and raised in New York City. As a youth, I achieved the highest rank in Scouting, the Eagle Scout Award. I received my B.A. in Political Science from Wheaton College (IL) and my M.A. in International Affairs, focusing on U.S. foreign policy and international law, from the American University in Washington, DC. In 2007, I was honored with the Outstanding Service Award from the Small Business Exporters Association in recognition of my work on improving various U.S. trade promotion programs to assist small- and medium-sized exporters. My wife Laura and I live in Vienna, Virginia. Our two children are graduates of George C. Marshall High School in Falls Church and are currently in college.
Education
- Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
- American University, Washington, DC, Master of Arts in International Affairs
Awards
Recipient of Outstanding Service Award from the Small Business Exporters Association