Month YEAR
Last week at Commerce, we remembered Secretary Ron Brown,
our 11 Commerce employees, and the 23 other officials who died tragically on a Commerce Department trade mission 18 years ago. It is a somber occasion,
but Secretary Brown’s legacy continues to shape the Commerce Department’s work,
including our new Strategic Plan and our “Open for Business Agenda.” Last week,
we launched Business Sunday, the USPTO is accepting applications for its
Patents for Humanity program, and NIST created a more accurate atomic clock. I
am also proud to announce that the Department of Commerce’s
child care center has been named one of the best in the city. The center is
open to all and if you are interested in find out more information for your
family, please contact the center at 202-482-1587. -Bruce
Life
Lessons in Public Service - Maria Cardona, Deputy Press Secretary for
Secretary Ron Brown, wrote a guest blog post about what she learned from
Secretary Ron Brown before his unfortunate passing 18 years ago this week.
U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office Now Accepting Applications for 2014 Patents for
Humanity Program - The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) announced
that Patents for Humanity is being renewed as an annual program. Started as a
one-year pilot in 2012, the program recognizes businesses, inventors,
non-profits, and universities who leverage their intellectual property
portfolio to tackle global humanitarian challenges.
Commerce
Participates in Business Sunday - Last weekend, the Commerce Department’s
Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships joined with the Minority
Business Development Agency (MBDA), BusinessUSA, the Small Business
Administration (SBA), and 19th Street Baptist Church to host the first Business
Sunday in Washington, DC. Business Sunday is a program focused on promoting
local economic growth and job creation by connecting congregations and
communities with the valuable business development resources offered by the
Federal Government.
NIST
Gives Astronomers a Better Ruler in the Search for Extrasolar Planets - Researchers
at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have rejuvenated a
technique for finding planets near distant stars. New measurements of light
from special lamps could help astronomers find planets hidden in data from more
than a decade's worth of extrasolar planet searches, as well as improve
telescopes' current capabilities.
Shedding
Light on Race Reporting Among Hispanics - Over the last few decades, many
Census Bureau studies have examined race reporting among Hispanics on the
census questionnaire, but these studies did not specifically look at those who
self-reported being of Hispanic origin. A new working paper, “Race Reporting
Among Hispanics: 2010,” examines this topic and found that more than 40 percent
of Hispanics who self-reported their origin did not report belonging to any
federally recognized race group as defined by the Office of Management and
Budget. During the 2010 Census, questions on race and Hispanic origin were
asked of everyone living in the United States.
Texas
City “Y” Incident: Aftermath of the Oil Spill in Galveston Bay, Texas - The
March 22, 2014 vessel collision in Galveston Bay resulted in oil spill of
approximately 168,000 gallons. As of Monday, March 31, NOAA National Marine
Fisheries Service teams report 21 dolphins and 4 turtles stranded.
Approximately 150 dead birds have been reported in the Galveston area and 30 in
the Matagorda area. Cleanup activities in the Galveston area are proceeding and
the U.S. Coast Guard is beginning the process to downsize staffing and phase
out response efforts.
USPTO’s
Office of Policy and International Affairs Continues Building Support for U.S.
Innovators and Entrepreneurs - In the first quarter of fiscal year 2014,
the Office of Policy and International Affairs at USPTO conducted dozens of
programs designed to provide intellectual property capacity-building and
technical assistance to domestic and international audiences. These programs to
boost IP awareness and understanding are managed through our Global Intellectual
Property Academy, and tracking them is one of the ways we measure our
performance.
An
Economist’s View: Using Trade Data to Predict the Final Four - Natalie
Soroka, an economist in the International Trade Administration’s (ITA) Office
of Trade and Economic Analysis, wrote a blog post using publicly available ITA data
to predict a winner in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament this weekend.
New
Atomic Clock, NIST-F2, Three Times More Accurate - The National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) has officially launched a new atomic clock,
called NIST-F2, to serve as a new U.S. civilian time and frequency standard,
along with the current NIST-F1 standard. NIST-F2 would neither gain nor lose
one second in about 300 million years, making it about three times as accurate
as NIST-F1.
Six
Ways to Make Your Next Trade Show Count - To get the best possible return
on investment from your next trade show, here are six simple suggestions that
don’t cost much money and will attract traffic to just about any booth.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) wrote that the February
2014 trade gap is $42.3 billion on their blog this week.
The February
2014 international trade deficit increased 7.7 percent from January, to
$42.3 billion. Exports decreased 1.1 percent, to $190.4 billion, and imports
rose 0.4 percent, to $232.7 billion.
February
2014 new orders for manufactured goods increased 1.6 percent, to $488.8
billion. Shipments rose 0.9 percent, to $493.5 billion. Unfilled orders
increased 0.3 percent to $1,062.5 billion. And inventories rose 0.7 percent, to
$642.1 billion.
Construction
spending in February 2014 was $945.7 billion at a seasonally adjusted
annual rate, up 0.1 percent from the revised January 2014 estimate and up 8.7
percent from February 2013.
Data Releases This Week: Monthly Wholesale
Trade: February (Census)
On Saturday, Secretary Pritzker received the 2014
Harry S. Truman Award from the American Association of Community Colleges for
her commitment to making skills and workforce development a priority for the
department.
On Sunday, Secretary Pritzker attended the 26th Annual
Quest for Excellence Conference and deliver remarks at the Baldrige Awards
Ceremony at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront. NIST Director performing the
duties of Deputy Secretary, Patrick Gallagher, will also attend and deliver
remarks.
Starting on Monday, Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Economic Development Matt Erskine will participate in the meeting of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Territorial
Development Policy Committee in Paris, France, in his role as Vice-chair.
On Monday, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Mark Doms
and Census Bureau Director John Thompson will speak at the opening of the Penn
State University Census Research Data Center in University Park, PA.
Also starting on Monday, Acting Under Secretary for
International Trade Ken Hyatt will participate in the Travel and Tourism
Advisory Board (TTAB) meeting in Chicago and participate in multiple events at
the IPW, the world’s largest visit USA travel trade show.
On Monday, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Mark Doms
and Census Bureau Director John Thompson will speak at the opening of the Penn
State University Census Research Data Center in University Park, PA.
On Wednesday, Secretary Pritzker will testify on the
Department’s FY 2015 budget request before the U.S. House Appropriations Committee's
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science.
Also on Wednesday, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs
Mark Doms will give a macro-economic overview of the region and overview of
manufacturing, especially steel, to the North American Steel Trade Committee
(NASTC) Meeting in Washington, DC.
Also on Wednesday, Acting Under Secretary for
International Trade Ken Hyatt will meet with Brazilian Secretary of Foreign
Trade Daniel Godinho in Washington, DC to discuss how to increase bilateral
trade and investment.
On Thursday, Secretary Pritzker will testify on the
Department’s FY 2015 budget request before the Senate Appropriations Committee's
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science.
Also on Thursday, Census Bureau Director John Thompson
and Deputy Director Nancy Potok will address the Census Scientific Advisory
Committee members at Census Bureau headquarters in Suitland, MD. The committee
composes recommendations on major programs, such as the decennial census, the
agriculture and economic censuses, demographic and economic statistics
programs, survey research, and marketing analysis in relation to its areas of
expertise.
Also on Thursday, NOAA National Hurricane Center Director
Dr. Rick Knabb will address the National Tropical Weather Conference, in South
Padre Island, TX. The conference is a national forum for broadcast
meteorologists and focuses on all major aspects of hurricane preparedness,
forecasting and research, educational sessions, panels, forums, and activities.
Also on Thursday, USPTO Deputy Director Michelle Lee will
speak at a roundtable on crowdsourcing the agency is hosting in Alexandria, VA.
The roundtable is designed to solicit feedback about innovative ways to
leverage crowdsourcing techniques to help acquire difficult-to-locate prior
art.
On Friday, Candace Shiver, MBDA Special Advisor, will
provide remarks at the African Business Summit in Cincinnati, OH. She will speak
about the state of minority business and the Doing Business in Africa
Initiative.
Secretary Pritzker
met with Sir Richard Branson this week to talk about the commercial space
sector.
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