January 9, 2015
This week, Secretary Pritzker highlighted that there has never been a better time to consider establishing or expanding operations in the United States. We are home to an attractive consumer market, a thriving culture of innovation, a talented workforce and much more. Companies that are interested in establishing operations in the United States can learn more at the upcoming 2015 SelectUSA Summit. Also this week, Deputy Secretary Andrews toured the floor of the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and addressed technology and Las Vegas business leaders about the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship to the American economy.
Around Commerce, NOAA announced significant investment in the next generation of supercomputers; NIST announced STEM education opportunities for teachers and undergraduates; and NITA highlighted how they are promoting spectrum sharing in the wireless broadband era.
On a personal note, it is a true honor to serve as the Secretary's new Chief of Staff. In my role as Senior Advisor and Director of Public Affairs, I saw the great work that our Commerce employees do every day on behalf of America’s businesses and our people. I look forward to doing all I can to support my teammates here at Commerce as we implement our Open for Business Agenda and assist more companies with the tools they need to grow and hire.
-Jim
2015
SelectUSA Investment Summit is Now Open for Business - Secretary Penny
Pritzker wrote about the upcoming 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit. At this
year’s Summit, economic development organizations from across the United States
will once again gather to showcase investment opportunities to companies throughout
the world. This event will bring together the tools, information, and
connections companies need to grow their business here. The two-day summit will
include many sessions with high-profile CEOs, breakout panels with practical
tools for investors, one-on-one matchmaking meetings, and pitches on the trade
show floor.
2015
Promises More Data from BEA on Foreign Investment in the United States - The
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will release new investment by foreign
companies in the United States this year that will provide information on
things like when a foreign company launches a new business in this country or
expands an existing one by building a new plant. The new data will give foreign
entrepreneurs even more tools to make informed decisions about investing and
hiring in the United States.
How
trade stats can help US businesses expand abroad - The Census Bureau is
responsible for collecting, compiling, and publishing monthly trade statistics
on all goods imported and exported from the United States. Together with the
Bureau of Economic Analysis, which collects similar data on services imports
and exports, the Census Bureau releases the “U.S. International Trade in Goods
and Services” report.
Commerce
Deputy Secretary Andrews’ Visit to Consumer Electronics Show Underscores
Importance of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to American Economy - Deputy
Secretary Andrews toured the International Consumer Electronics Show and addressed
local Las Vegas business leaders at a roundtable organized by Business Forward.
He discussed the Department of Commerce’s role in supporting innovation and
entrepreneurship, particularly in pursuing 21st century trade agreement.
One
Year Later, Look South Looking Brighter - There is some sunshine in the
fresh trade data through November 2014. Our export numbers are up globally, and
some bright spots are appearing for trade with our friends to the south one
year after launching the Look South initiative.
Improving
Your Access to U.S. Census Bureau Data: Two New Features on Census.gov -
Census Bureau Director John Thompson writes that in an age of instant
communication and 24/7 information sharing, Internet users want anytime,
anywhere access to timely and relevant statistics. To meet that need,
Census.gov adds two exciting new features — a better search engine and a updated
version of QuickFacts.
Commerce’s
NIST Announces STEM Education Opportunities for Teachers and Undergraduates
- The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) recently announced they are accepting applications for two grant
programs for middle school science teachers and for its annual NIST Summer
Undergraduate Research Fellowship program.
U.S.
experienced 8 billion-dollar disasters in 2014 - In 2014, there were 8
weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each
across the United States. These events included a drought event, a flooding
event, 5 severe storm events, and a winter storm event. Overall, these events
resulted in the deaths of 53 people and had significant economic effects on the
areas impacted.
NOAA
Announces Significant Investment in Next Generation of Supercomputers - The
Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
recently announced the next phase in the agency’s efforts to increase
supercomputing capacity to provide more timely, accurate, and detailed forecasts.
By October 2015, the capacity of each of NOAA’s two operational supercomputers
will jump to 2.5 petaflops, for a total of 5 petaflops – a nearly tenfold
increase from the current capacity.
2014 U.S.
temperature exceeds 20th-century average for the 18th consecutive year - The
2014 annual average contiguous U.S. temperature was 52.6°F, 0.5°F above the
20th century average. This ranked as the 34th warmest year since we began
keeping track in the 1895, while the temperature exceeded the 20th Century
average for the 18th consecutive year.
Promoting
Spectrum Sharing In the Wireless Broadband Era - Through fiscal year 2014, NTIA
had formally recommended or otherwise identified 335 megahertz of spectrum for
potential reallocation. That includes spectrum in the 1695-1710 and 1755-1780
bands auctioned off in the FCC’s successful AWS-3 auction. The auction, which
will fund important federal programs and pump billions into the U.S Treasury,
showcases the potential for spectrum sharing.
Commerce
General Counsel Kelly Welsh to Discuss Legal Reform in China - General Counsel
Kelly Welsh wrote a blog post about his trip to China. He said, “Promoting a
strong commercial rule of law wherever U.S. companies do business is a high
priority for Secretary Pritzker and the Department of Commerce. That’s why I am travelling to Beijing and
Wuhan, China during the week of January 12 to speak to the public, academics,
legal professionals, the media, Chinese government officials, and U.S.
businesses about how the United States and China can work together to promote
commercial rule of law.”
Building
Partnerships and a Dedicated Team, Driven by our Mission - TJ Kennedy,
FirstNet Acting Executive Director, wrote that FirstNet will focus this year on
working with the Public Safety Advisory Committee in four key areas – early builder
lessons learned, tribal engagement strategies, priority and pre-emption, and
public safety-grade service.
After
a Century Apart, NOAA and Partners Reunite a Former Wetland with San Francisco
Bay’s Tides - On January 6, 2015, more than 100 people celebrated the
reintroduction of tide waters to Cullinan Ranch in Solano County, California. With
three more levee breaches planned by the end of January, restoration of this
1,500 acre site is nearly complete, with efforts to monitor the project’s
progress to follow.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis wrote that the November
2014 Trade Gap is $39.0 Billion on their blog this week.
New orders for
manufactured goods in November, down four consecutive months, decreased
$3.5 billion or 0.7 percent to $492.7 billion. Shipments, down three of the
last four months, decreased $2.8 billion or 0.6 percent to $495.7 billion. Unfilled
orders, up 19 of the last 20 months, increased $4.5 billion or 0.4 percent to
$1,179.1 billion. Inventories, up 24 of the last 25 months, increased $0.7
billion or 0.1 percent to $656.3 billion.
The
nation’s international trade balance in goods and services increased to
-$39.0 billion in November from -$42.2 billion in October (revised), as imports
decreased more than exports.
November 2014
sales of merchant wholesalers were $452.2 billion, down 0.3 percent from
last month. End-of-month inventories were $547.2 billion, up 0.8 percent from
last month.
Commerce Data in the News: The Washington Post
cites Census of Governments statistics from the Census Bureau to write that
state and local governments in Maryland, Virginia and the District spent $7.82
billion more than they collected in revenue between 2007 and 2012 in the
article, State,
Local Governments Continue to Spend More Than They Earn.
The New York Times
cites Census Bureau statistics on employment and income by sex in showing a
correlation between working women and poverty rates in the article, Where
Working Women are Most Common.
Data Releases Next Week: Advance Monthly Retail Sales: December
(Census); Manufacturing and Trade:
Inventories and Sales: November (Census)
Starting on Monday, General Counsel Kelly Welsh will be
in China for the week to meet with government officials and industry leaders to
talk about how the U.S. and China can work together to promote commercial rule
of law.
On Monday, Fiona Alexander, Associate Administrator of
NTIA’s Office of International Affairs, will deliver remarks at the NamesCon
2015 (conference dedicated to the Internet Domain Name industry) in Las Vegas,
NV.
On Tuesday, Secretary Pritzker, Secretary of Labor Thomas
Perez, and the Director of the National Economic Council, Jeffrey Zients will
host a delegation of Swiss business leaders at the White House. The Swiss executives
will get a preview of the 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit, which will be held
March 23-24 in Washington and is expected to attract more than 2,500
participants, almost double last year’s total.
Also on Tuesday, Deputy Secretary Andrews will attend a
breakfast at the Swiss Ambassador’s residence and discuss SelectUSA and
opportunities for increased foreign direct investment in the United States with
a group of Swiss chief executive officers in Washington, DC.
Also on Tuesday, Assistant Secretary for Economic
Development Jay Williams will deliver remarks at the Detroit Area Grantmakers
monthly meeting in Detroit, MI. He will also meet with elected leaders,
stakeholders and tour the Detroit Auto Show.
On Wednesday, USPTO will host a DevOps “Industry Day”
event at the USPTO campus in Alexandria, VA. The event will highlight USPTO’s
efforts to modernize core systems for patent and trademark examination and
transform how the agency does business with its customers.
On Thursday, Under Secretary for International Trade
Stefan Selig will provide the lunch keynote in Seattle, WA at the 43rd annual
Economic Forecast Conference, the largest forecast event in the Pacific
Northwest.
Also on Thursday, Assistant Secretary Williams will join
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to launch the Jobs for Michigan Graduates Program,
which is affiliated with the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) organization. Since
1980, JAG has delivered consistent and compelling results, helping 1,000,000
at-risk middle, high school and out of school students to stay in school
through graduation, secure quality employment, and/or pursue a post-secondary
education.
On
Friday, Under Secretary Selig will host a roundtable with tech executives and
venture capitalists in San Francisco, CA. and hold meetings with technology
firms in Silicon Valley.
Secretary
Pritzker stopped by the Economic and Statistics Administration to thank
some of the talented Commerce employees for their hard work and to wish them a
happy New Year.
Census.gov
Shows Statistics in Search Results - As a
direct result of customer feedback, the Census Bureau recently updated two key
tools on its website with new features to make accessing statistics easier than
ever before. With an improved search feature generating better
results on census.gov, users can discover a wealth of information and
visualizations just by typing key words. The Census Bureau also debuted an
updated beta version for one of its most popular Web tools, QuickFacts.
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