April 25, 2014
This week, TIME magazine recognized one of Commerce's own, Dr. Kathy Sullivan,
head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as one of their '100
Most Influential People'. It is great to see outside organizations recognize
the great work being done each day at Commerce. Also this week, Secretary
Pritzker traveled to Arizona, where she spoke on the keys to a competitive
economy: a skilled workforce and a spirit of entrepreneurship. She also visited
an EDA-funded incubator and an Advocacy Center success story, the Boeing Mesa
helicopter assembly facility. Around Commerce, a NOAA climate model was the
inspiration for the USPS’s Earth Day stamp; BEA released two new data products
that will improve understanding of our economy; and ITA offers five tips to protecting
intellectual property when serving foreign markets. Finally, next Monday, USPTO
will celebrate World IP Day. I encourage you to attend some of their great events they
will be involved with. -Bruce
Dr. Kathryn Sullivan named
to TIME 100 List of 'Most Influential People' - Pioneer John Glenn gives his take on the 'world's
weatherwoman' and declares her “the right person for the right job at the right
time.”
Secretary Pritzker Talks
About Two Keys to an Innovative and Competitive Economy: a Skilled Workforce
and Entrepreneurship - Innovation is key
to supporting economic growth and creating jobs in the United States. In order
to ensure that the United States stays competitive, the Department of Commerce
works to create the conditions that empower Americans to turn their ideas into
successful businesses, grow their ventures, and create jobs.
Commerce's Advocacy Center
Supports Jobs at Boeing Facility in Arizona - Secretary Pritzker visited the Boeing facility in
Mesa, Arizona, which has benefited from the efforts of the Advocacy Center.
Just last August, the Advocacy Center helped Boeing win a contract to sell 36
Apache helicopters made in Mesa to South Korea, which will support several
hundred U.S. jobs. The contract is worth $2.3 billion, with $1.6 billion
counting as U.S. exports.
Driving German FDI – the
U.S. as a Manufacturing & Distribution Hub, and an Export Platform - PTF Pfuller, a manufacturer of precision parts and
assemblies for the semiconductor, food, medical technology, laser, and
aerospace industries, spent two years working the Racine County Economic
Development Corporation, after an initial meeting at the USA Investment Center
organized by SelectUSA and CS Germany at Hannover Messe 2011. PTF established
its U.S. division in Sturtevant, Wisconsin in August 2013 with initial plans to
start with a small sales staff – but then noted the potential to add
manufacturing and a distribution center within five years, creating at least 50
jobs.
Secretary
Pritzker Announces Business Delegation to Join Her West Africa Trade Mission
- Secretary Pritzker announced that she will lead 20 American companies on an
Energy Business Development trade mission to West Africa, which will visit
Ghana and Nigeria from May 18-23, 2014. This mission will promote U.S. exports
and expand U.S. companies’ presence in Africa by helping American firms launch
or increase their business in the energy sector.
U.S. Postal Service unveils
new Earth Day stamp celebrating NOAA Climate Science - The U.S. Postal Service celebrated Earth Day by unveiling
a new Forever international rate stamp inspired by a simulation of sea surface
temperatures from a NOAA model of the Earth’s climate. The round stamp depicts
the globe with North America in the center, surrounded by vivid bands of blue,
green and red, signifying the varying temperatures of sea surface waters.
New Commerce Data Supports
Better Economic Decision-Making by Businesses and Policymakers - This week, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA) released two new data products that will help American
businesses, consumers, policymakers, and academia gain important information
about the performance of the U.S. economy.
New BEA Data Proves Valuable
for Retail Industry - A guest blog post
by Jack Kleinhenz, Ph.D., Chief Economist at the National Retail Federation
explains that having higher frequency GDP data by industry will be extremely
valuable in assessing current economic conditions and shaping economic
forecasts. The new data series should provide reliable information on the
changes in growth for specific industries, and offer insights into whether the
growth is well-above, well-below, or average relative to overall GDP growth.
Five
Tips for Protecting Your Intellectual Property in Global Business - Many
small businesses are at a disadvantage in not having the expertise or resources
to prevent theft of their intellectual property in the global marketplace. So
in recognition of World IP Day on April 26, here are some simple, practical
measures that any exporter can take to protect their IP assets.
Spurring
Economic Growth through Infrastructure and Planning - Matt Erskine, Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Economic Development, wrote a blog post about his trip
to Massachusetts this week where he announced several EDA grants that will be
used to support critical infrastructure that are the building blocks to
economic growth.
About
Half of Internationally Adopted Children Come From Asia - The Census
Bureau’s Rose Kreider writes a report on the characteristics of adopted kids
and stepchildren and the homes they live in. Overall, China was the largest
single-country source of internationally adopted children.
Commerce
Connects U.S. Businesses to Opportunities in Africa’s Power Sector - The
Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA), Miami Business
Center hosted the Power Africa B2B Summit to promote the public-private
partnership model envisioned by President Obama’s Power Africa Initiative. At
the Summit, prominent government and business leaders, including Nigeria’s
Power Minister the Honorable Muhammed Wakil, CEOs of Africa’s major power
companies, and representatives from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and USAID,
joined MBDA to share opportunities for accessing the energy sector in African
markets.
The Economic and Statistics Administration (ESA)
wrote about Recent
U.S. Export Trends and Foreign Economic Growth on their blog this week.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) wrote about
their New
Quarterly Statistics Detailing Industries’ Economic Performance. They also introduced
New Measures of the Regional Economy—Estimates of Real Personal Income for Metropolitan
Areas, 2008–2012 and Estimates
of Real Personal Income for States, 2008–2012 on their blog this week.
Sales
of new single family houses in March 2014 were 384,000 at a seasonally
adjusted annual rate, down 14.5 percent from February’s revised rate and down
13.3 percent from March 2013.
New
orders for manufactured durable goods in March 2014 increased 2.6 percent,
to $234.8 billion. Excluding transportation, new orders rose 2.0 percent.
Overall shipments increased 1.1 percent, while capital goods shipments
increased 1.7 percent. Unfilled orders rose 0.6 percent, and inventories
increased 0.5 percent in March 2014.
Commerce Data in the News: The Washington Post
weighs in on the discussion about the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey
question about flush toilets by displaying a map that shows 1.6
Million Americans Don’t Have Indoor Plumbing.
USA
Today cites a new Census Bureau report on adopted kids and
stepchildren is the article Half
of Foreign Adopted Children are from Asia.
BEA’s inaugural release of real
personal income for states and metropolitan areas is highlighted in
a Washington Post article: Thinking
about moving? Here’s how far your dollar goes everywhere in the U.S.
Another new data product from BEA – quarterly
data on GDP by industry – was covered by the Wall Street Journal
and Vox media: A
Fresh Look at the Building Blocks of Economic Growth and The
US government could soon reshape how we measure the economy.
Business
Insider cites the Census Bureau’s new report on voting trends
and voter participation rates to write Why
Politicians Care More About Old People Than Young People.
Data Releases Next Week: Housing Vacancies and
Homeownership: 2014 Q1 (Census); Gross Domestic Product: 2014 Q1 Advance
Estimate (BEA); Personal Income: March (BEA); Construction Put in Place: March
(Census); Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: March (Census)
On Monday, Secretary Pritzker, along with Dr.
Pat Gallagher, National Institute of Standards and Technology Director (NIST)
performing the duties of the Deputy Secretary, will participate in an Advanced
Manufacturing Partnership meeting in Washington, D.C.
Also on Monday, USPTO Deputy Director Michelle
Lee will speak at World IP Day events on Capitol Hill and the USPTO campus in
Alexandria, VA.
On Tuesday, Secretary Pritzker will meet with
the Department of Commerce’s Manufacturing Council to discuss the importance of
manufacturing to the U.S. economy and emphasize manufacturing as a priority for
the Administration.
Also on Tuesday, Dr. Pat Gallagher, NIST
Director performing the duties of Deputy Secretary, will deliver keynote
remarks on manufacturing, focusing on NNMI, at the American Society of
Mechanical Engineer’s (ASME) annual Engineering Public Policy Symposium in
Washington, D.C.
Also on Tuesday, USPTO Commissioner for
Trademarks Deborah Cohn and USPTO Silicon Valley Director John Cabeca will
speak at an International Trademark Association (INTA) roundtable in Redwood
City, CA.
On Thursday, Census Bureau Director John
Thompson will speak on a panel about 2020 Census preparations at the Population
Association of America’s annual meeting in Boston.
Also on Thursday, USPTO will host the sixth in a
series of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) public roundtables designed to
educate the public on PTAB activities and processes in Seattle, WA. The
roundtables are designed to educate the public and collect feedback about the
America Invents Act (AIA) trial proceedings.
On Friday, Michael S.
Devany, NOAA Deputy Under Secretary for Operations, NOAA Fisheries’ Administrator
Eileen Sobeck, and NOAA Corps Rear Admirals David Score and Anita Lopez will be
joined by federal, state, and local officials for the commissioning of the NOAA
Fishery Survey Vessel Reuben Lasker, in San Diego, California. The Lasker is
designed to produce so little sound that scientists can survey marine species
without disturbing the animals' behavior or compromising the capabilities of
NOAA's most sensitive acoustic equipment. It will primarily support fish,
marine mammals and turtle surveys off the U.S. West Coast and in the eastern
tropical Pacific Ocean.
Secretary
Pritzker signs an Apache helicopter during a visit to Boeing's Mesa, Arizona
facility. She is joined by Kim Smith, Boeing VP Attack Helicopter Programs;
and David Koopersmith, Boeing VP/GM Vertical Lift Organization.
The new
Global: Sea Surface Temperatures Forever® Stamp by the United States Postal
Service, inspired by a simulation of sea surface temperatures from a NOAA model
of the Earth’s climate.
Adopted
Children are More Likely to Live with a Highly Educated Parent — The Census
Bureau produced a graphic that shows three different kinds of children
(adopted, step, and biological) and the likelihood of them living with a
household with various levels of educational attainment.
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