Manufacturing Day 2015

Week at a Glance

October 2, 2015

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Commerce Week at a Glance: Manufacturing Day 2015

This week, Secretary Penny Pritzker participated in the Atlantic’s Washington Ideas Forum where she discussed the path forward for America’s economy.  She also participated in an armchair discussion with Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, at the World Economic Forum’s Inside the Pentagon: Business and the Evolving International Security Context program, where they discussed the importance of enhancing public-private collaboration. Also, Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews delivered remarks at the 34th Annual Conference on U.S.-Turkey Relations hosted by the American Turkish Council.

 

In other Commerce news, today is Manufacturing Day 2015. With 2343 events across the nation, manufacturing is being showcased as a vital engine of the American economy. From Commerce data to investments and export promotion, supporting this critical sector of the economy is an all Commerce effort. To celebrate Manufacturing Day 2015, Secretary Pritzker toured two of Delaware’s most creative manufacturers, M. Davis and Accudyne Systems.

 

Around the Department, NOAA’s innovative use of data is saving shipping companies millions of dollars; ESA’s newest report shows the wage premium for manufacturing jobs; and USPTO will open two new regional offices over the next six weeks.

 

Have a wonderful weekend and let’s continue to keep America Open for Business.

 

Best wishes,

 

Jim

Chief of Staff

 

 


Trade and Investment

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker: Meaningful Progress Made During President Xi Visit - "As the two largest economies and the two largest markets in the world, constructive engagement and sustained diplomacy between the U.S. and China is critical. The entire Obama Administration was pleased to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinxing to the U.S. last week so we could continue making meaningful progress on issues of importance to our economies, our businesses, and our people, including cybersecurity, commercial rule of law, and travel and tourism."

 

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews Delivers Remarks at 34th Annual Conference on U.S.-Turkey Relations - Speaking before a crowd of approximately 100 American and Turkish business leaders and government officials, he discussed bilateral commercial relations between the two countries and the Commerce Department’s leading role in helping bolster those ties.

 

HANNOVER MESSE: Meet the Entire World of Industrial Technology at One Trade Show - For the first time, the United States is the Partner Country for HANNOVER MESSE, and that means more opportunity and greater exposure for U.S. companies and economic development organizations.


Innovation

Secretary Pritzker Samples Tech Innovation, Big Apple-Style - The digital economy is critical to America's continued competitiveness. That was the message Secretary Pritzker heard Monday as she kicked off a trip to New York City by sampling some New York-style technology innovation.

 

Manufacturing Day Attracts Thousands to Factories Nationwide - Today, Secretary Penny Pritzker was among the thousands of Americans celebrating National Manufacturing Day at manufacturing facilities across the country.

 

Inspiring the Next Generation of Manufacturers - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing Chandra Brown writes about her favorite time of year, when we recognize the importance of manufacturing as thousands of companies open their doors to welcome in the public to see the amazing products being made every day by our neighbors and friends in communities across the United States.

 

Time to Worry About the Manufacturing-Skills Gap - U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers Jay Timmons write an op-ed about the importance of encouraging more young people to pursue educational tracks that can lead to a successful manufacturing career.

 

Celebrating Manufacturing Day with U.S. Census Bureau Statistics - Census Bureau Director John Thompson writes that the Census Bureau is pleased to participate in this year’s observance by recognizing the major role that manufacturing plays in our national and global economy. Every year, U.S. manufacturers produce nearly $6 trillion in shipments and employ people across the nation. Modern manufacturing is a technology-driven industry that produces innovative ideas and products that are used across the globe.

 

EDA’s Manufacturing Footprint - In addition to spearheading the President’s Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership initiative, EDA supports advancing manufacturing through its grants programs. In fiscal year 2015, EDA invested in more than 50 manufacturing-related projects totaling $62 million.

 

BEA’s Factory Factoids in Honor of Manufacturing Day - The Bureau of Economic Analysis produces a slew of economic statistics on how manufacturing and other U.S. industries are performing and impact the economy.

 

Modern-Day Manufacturing: 3D Printing Drives Innovation - Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Michelle K. Lee delivered remarks at Microsoft Tech Lab on 3D printing or additive manufacturing, the process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file using additive processes, and how this industry is driving innovation.

 

Stitching Together the Next Digital Revolution - The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is playing a key role in this “digitization” of manufacturing with its Digital Thread for Smart Manufacturing project, which would help businesses of all sizes make the most of the revolution.

 

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Ready to Open Two New Regional Offices - Over the next six weeks the USPTO will open permanent offices in two new locations – the Silicon Valley Regional Office in San Jose will open on October 15 and the Texas Regional Office in Dallas will open on November 9.

 

Expanding the Benefits of Broadband in New England - The Digital New England Summit brought together about 250 broadband experts, community leaders and state and federal officials for this day-long gathering.

 

New Research Details Ways to Improve Voice Quality of Emergency Communications - NTIA’s research laboratory in Boulder, Colo., has released a new report that describes an effort to identify which digital speech and audio technologies are best-suited for mission-critical voice communications over a fourth generation wireless network using cellular infrastructure.

 

Guiding Communities to Broadband Funding Sources - NTIA released the Broadband Funding Guide, which provides a roadmap on how to access federal funding to support broadband planning, public access, digital literacy, adoption, and deployment. The guide details a wide range of opportunities.


Data

NOAA Brings Precision Navigation to the Busy Port of Long Beach - In response to the need for under keel clearance information, NOAA and its partners worked in conjunction with the Port of Long Beach to provide data to support developed safe navigation of deep-draft ships into the port.

 

Characteristics of Likely Transgender Individuals in Administrative Records and the 2010 Census — The Census Bureau’s Benjamin Cerf Harris writes that transgender issues and images are increasingly present in popular media, literature, journalism, and the U.S. legal system. Few data sets, however, include information on the transgender community.


The Economic and Statistics Administration wrote about how Manufacturing Pays and discussed What is Natural Capital? New York Roundtable Considers the Question, Evokes Teddy Roosevelt on their blog this week.

 

The Bureau of Economic Analysis wrote some Factory Factoids in Honor of Manufacturing Day, State Personal Income: Second Quarter 2015, Value of U.S. Liabilities Decreased More Than U.S. Assets in Second Quarter 2015, and Consumer Spending Rises in August on their blog this week.

 

Personal income in August 2015 increased 0.3 percent. Nominal and real personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased 0.4 percent. Nominal disposable personal income (DPI) increased 0.4 percent.  Real DPI increased 0.3 percent. The personal saving rate as a percentage of DPI was 4.6 percent in August.

 

Construction spending in August 2015 was $1,086.2 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, up 0.7 percent from the revised July 2015 estimate and up 13.7 percent from August 2014.

 

August 2015 new orders for manufactured goods decreased 1.7 percent, to $473.0 billion. Shipments fell 0.7 percent, to $480.1 billion. Unfilled orders decreased 0.2 percent, to $1,195.0 billion. And inventories decreased 0.3 percent, to $648.4 billion.

 

Commerce Data in the News: The data from BEA’s consumer spending release is highlighted in a recent Reuters article: U.S. consumer spending rises; core inflation firms slightly

 

BEA’s State Personal Income data was highlighted in a recent 4-traders article: BEA Bureau of Economic Analysis : State Quarterly Personal Income, 1st quarter 2012 - 2nd quarter 2015; State Annual Personal Income, 2012 - 2014

 

The Wall Street Journal cites Census Bureau statistics on government spending to write that Texas doles out $30 billion a year of welfare and Alabama $6.3 billion in the article Most States Allow Ex-Drug Offenders to Get Benefits.

 

Thrillest cites Census Bureau statistics on marital status, income, migration, and dining and entertainment establishments to write that Washington and Atlanta are the top two cities for finding love in the article These are the 10 American Cities With the Most Single People.

 

Data Releases Next Week: 

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: August (BEA and Census); Monthly Wholesale Trade: August (Census)


Environment

Inland flooding: A hidden danger of tropical cyclones - When these powerful storms move over land, they lose wind strength but continue to dump massive amounts of rain into streams, rivers and lakes — posing a serious threat of inland flooding. These floods account for more than 50 percent of hurricane-related deaths each year.

 

Watch Divers Restore Coral Reefs Hit by a Huge Ship in Hawaii - Corals were damaged off the Hawaiian island of Oahu in February of 2010 when the cargo ship M/V VogeTrader ran aground. NOAA’s Restoration Center and the State of Hawaii worked quickly to implement emergency restoration, using special underwater scientific techniques and technologies, and ultimately restoring the reef after getting some help from vacuums, power washers, and even winter storms.


Next Week

Monday through Wednesday, USPTO Director Michelle K. Lee will lead a delegation to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) assembly of Member states in Geneva, Switzerland, signing Memoranda of Understanding with the European Patent Office and the patent offices of the Philippines and Singapore.

 

On Monday, ITA Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Stefan Selig will deliver remarks at the North American Gas Forum in Washington, D.C. and at the European Institute Global Meeting.

 

On Tuesday, MBDA National Director Alejandra Y. Castillo will serve as the moderator on the “Entrepreneurship in the Latino Community” Panel in Washington, D.C., which will address the importance of Latino entrepreneurs and how civic leaders can support them as they start businesses and contribute to the nation’s economy. 

 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Secretary Pritzker will travel to Havana, Cuba becoming the second U.S. cabinet official to visit Cuba since President Obama called for the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba in December 2014. She will meet with senior Cuban officials and co-chair a Regulatory Dialogue with Cuban officials, through which U.S. government leaders from the Departments of Commerce and Treasury will describe the recent changes made to rules governing trade, financial transactions, and travel with respect to Cuba

 

On Wednesday, Census Bureau Deputy Director Nancy Potok will travel to the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Morton, Minnesota, to attend the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes, founded in 1996 to represent the 35 sovereign tribal nations of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. Altogether, the alliance represents nearly 134,000 American Indian people.

 

Also on Wednesday, ITA Under Secretary Selig will participate in armchair discussion with Foreign Policy Magazine on Japan-US relations.

 

On Thursday, the Commercial Law Development Program will host the Franchise Business Club Meeting on Contracts in Tunis, Tunisia. The event will gather Tunisian franchisors and Master Franchisees to focus on the contractual aspects of franchising. This event is part of a long term commitment by CLDP to developing franchising in Tunisia. Franchising is an important tool in emerging markets for economic growth, SME development and for greater global integration.

 

Also on Thursday, MBDA National Director Alejandra Y. Castillo will deliver remarks at the NY Office of the State Comptroller Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration. She will also receive an award for her leadership and commitment to the Hispanic business community.


Photo of the Week

Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker speaks with high-school students at the M. Davis production facility in Delaware during their Manufacturing Day 2015 event. These students are participating in a vocational tech co-op program where they spend time working at the facility to explore career opportunities in manufacturing.

 

Bonus Photo of the Week:  Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, along with Senator Chris Coons and Congressman John Carney, tours the Accudyne Systems production facility in Delaware during their Manufacturing Day 2015 event. This machine produces hail balls that are used to test impact damage on homes.

Video of the Week

CEOs Sanjay Bhatnagar, WaterHealth International; Michael S. Burke, AECOM; Doug Peterson, McGraw Hill Financial; and Dinesh Paliwal, Harman International; discuss the mission of each of their companies and their involvement in this year’s U.S.-India CEO forum, hosted by the Department of Commerce.

Infographic of the Week

Job Creation in the United States — The Census Bureau releases data every year describing changes for businesses operating in the United States. These Business Dynamics Statistics include information on the number of startups (businesses that began operating in a given year) and the number of new jobs that were created by businesses of different ages.