For inquiries, please email BusinessLiaison@doc.gov
Please find the monthly 2023 edition of the Office of Public Engagement's newsletter below.
This month’s newsletter will cover:
- Upcoming DOC Grant Opportunities
- Competition Winners Announced for The Minority Business Development Agency’s Capital Readiness Program
- Nearly $3.5 Million in Internet for All Grants to Tribal Lands Announced
- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo Travels to the People’s Republic of China
- Department of Commerce and USTR to Hold Stakeholder IPEF Listening Sessions for Fifth Negotiating Round in Bangkok
- Registration for 2023 EXIM Annual Conference: October 19-20
- Department of Commerce Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of the CHIPS and Science Act
- Commerce Celebrates First Anniversary of Inflation Reduction Act
- $106 Million in Recommended Funding Announced for West Coast and Alaska Salmon Recovery
- Personnel Spotlight: NOAA's Jessica Grannis, Senior Advisor to the Administrator
Vice President Harris announced the awardees for the $125 million MBDA Capital Readiness Program, aiding underserved entrepreneurs to grow through technical support. Awardees will set up accelerators, preparing them to secure capital from sources like the $10 billion State Small Business Credit Initiative. The program's launch follows MBDA's establishment as a permanent Federal Agency in Nov 2021.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo calls it “the largest investment to support underserved entrepreneurs and businesses in Commerce Department history." Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo emphasizes its role in fueling small business growth in underserved communities.
MBDA’s Capital Readiness Program, funded by the SSBCI under the American Rescue Plan Act, supports minority business enterprises. Awardees join MBDA's National Network for crucial support. Under Secretary of Commerce, Donald R. Cravins, Jr., aims to provide equitable opportunities, preparing entrepreneurs to access funding. The selected applicants are recommended for funding, pending final approval. More info at Minority Business Development Agency (mbda.gov).
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The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded seven grants totaling nearly $3.5 million as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these new grants bring the total of the program to more than $1.79 billion awarded to 198 Tribal entities. Record investments in high-speed Internet deployment are a key part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
This funding from President Biden’s Internet for All initiative will help directly connect Tribal households and businesses to high-speed Internet service, plan for future Internet infrastructure investments, and upgrade network equipment. Last month, NTIA announced a second Notice of Funding Opportunity that will make up to approximately $980 million in funding from the TBCP program. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on January 23, 2024.
Please click here to read more.
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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo travelled to Beijing and Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), from August 27-30 for meetings with senior PRC officials and U.S. business leaders. Secretary Raimondo’s travel follows President Biden’s meeting with President Xi last November to deepen communication between the U.S. and the PRC on a range of issues.
Follow along Secretary Raimondo's trip by clicking the tweets & links below:
The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) invites interested stakeholders to take part in a listening session on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) for the fifth in-person negotiating round. The fifth negotiating round will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from September 10-16, 2023. In Bangkok, the IPEF partners will continue to make progress on negotiations towards high-standard outcomes under Pillars I (Trade), III (Clean Economy), and IV (Fair Economy). In Bangkok, the IPEF partners will continue to make progress on negotiations towards high-standard outcomes under Pillars I (Trade), III (Clean Economy), and IV (Fair Economy). Details for the upcoming Bangkok in-person listening session can be found below. If interested in participating in future virtual listening sessions, please reach out to uscommerceipef@trade.gov.
Upcoming: Bangkok In-Person Stakeholder Listening Session:
Date: Thursday, September 14
Time: 0900 – 1300 (Bangkok)
Venue: Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok 89 Wat Suan Phlu Alley Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500 Thailand
Registration:
Registration of all participants must be confirmed via the following three email addresses: ipefbkk.registration@mfa.go.th; IPEF@ustr.eop.gov; uscommerceipef@trade.gov. In the email subject line, please note “Bangkok In-Person Listening Session.”
Registration closes on Thursday, September 7. Please indicate whether you are interested in delivering a short intervention/presentation at the event (the time permitted for each presentation will depend on the number of individuals requesting to present). If you are providing an intervention/presentation, we respectfully request that you identify the topic(s) that you will cover during your remarks and include that information in the registration submission.
Please note all stakeholder events are closed press.
Register now for the Export-Import Bank’s 2023 Annual Conference, “Create Locally, Export Globally.” EXIM’s conference is the U.S. government’s premier trade and export event and will take place on Thursday, October 19 and Friday, October 20 at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC.
Conference attendees will gain valuable information about EXIM’s financing tools and explore opportunities for global export development. Participants can join in person or virtually to network with business leaders, government officials, and other conference attendees – and meet one-on-one with EXIM staff. Register now to take advantage of the discounted early bird registration.
On August 9th, the Department of Commerce celebrated the first anniversary of the historic CHIPS and Science Act. Signed into law by President Joe Biden, the law invests $50 billion to boost U.S. manufacturing, bring supply chains back to our shores, and protect national security. In February, the Department of Commerce released its first notice of funding opportunity targeting commercial manufacturing facilities, and later opened it to include large supply chain and material equipment projects. In response, over 460 statements of interest have been submitted by companies eager to manufacture semiconductors in the United States. Private companies have announced more than $230 billion in semiconductor manufacturing under the Biden-Harris Administration.
Over the last year, the CHIPS for America team has grown to include 140 people housed in two newly established offices. The team holds decades of experience from both industry and government, with backgrounds in research and development, investments, and management of large-scale projects.
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On August 16th, the Department of Commerce celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act - a key piece of the President’s Bidenomics agenda to grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up – reduces costs for Americans, invests in America, makes the tax code fairer, and is the most ambitious climate action in history.
The Inflation Reduction Act is a historic, federal government-wide investment that furthers the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) efforts to build a Climate-Ready Nation. It provides $3.3 billion for NOAA to build on its commitment to help Americans – including tribes and vulnerable populations – prepare, adapt, and build resilience to weather and climate events; improve supercomputing capacity and research on weather, oceans, and climate; strengthen NOAA’s hurricane hunter aircraft and fleet; and replace aging NOAA facilities.
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This month, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced more than $106 million in recommended funding for 16 West Coast and Alaska state and tribal salmon recovery programs and projects under the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF). The funds, including $34.4 million under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $7.5 million under the Inflation Reduction Act, will support the recovery, conservation and resilience of Pacific salmon and steelhead in Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. This funding is part of President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda, which includes over $2 billion for fish passage investments across the country.
Programs and projects recommended for funding will benefit four Species in the Spotlight: Central California Coast coho salmon, Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon, Southern Resident killer whales and Cook Inlet beluga whales. In addition, programs and projects recommended for funding will aid in the recovery of 28 salmon and steelhead species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as well as salmon and steelhead species that are necessary for native subsistence and tribal treaty fishing rights.
Please reach out to Matthew Burks, matthew.burks@noaa.gov with any media inquiries or further questions.
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