June 20,2014
Good evening everyone. This is my first week writing the
Commerce Week at a Glance as Acting Chief of Staff, and I look forward to sharing the
great work of the Commerce Department with you each week. This week, Secretary
Pritzker participated in the “SelectUSA Summer Forum: Reinvesting in America,
Creating Jobs at Home”, a forum highlighting foreign direct investment in the
United States. Secretary Pritzker also delivered keynote remarks at the Germany
Embassy Skills Training Conference, which emphasized successful U.S. and German
approaches to workforce development. Today, Secretary Pritzker swore in 24 new
Foreign Commercial Service Officers. In today’s newsletter please be sure to read
the NOAA blog posts on harnessing digital technology to empower commercial
innovation in nautical charts and creating more options to improve privacy and
security online. Also don’t miss Under Secretary Mark Dom’s blog about our data
transformation.
Best,
Justin
Secretary
Pritzker Talks About Training a Modern Manufacturing Workforce - A skilled
manufacturing workforce is central to America’s future economic success. In
order to best equip workers for 21st century jobs, Secretary Pritzker, for the
first time, made skills development a top priority for the Department of
Commerce.
Secretary
Pritzker Discusses Strategic Benefits of Reshoring at Inaugural SelectUSA
Summer Forum - America’s greatest strengths – its hardworking, diverse, and
educated workforce, strong protection of intellectual property rights,
predictable and transparent legal system, relatively low taxes, highly
developed infrastructure, and access to the world's most lucrative consumer
market – have led to a strong trend of reshoring and reinvestment in America.
Listening
to Our Data Customers at the Open Data Roundtable - Bureaus and leaders
across the Department of Commerce are determined to maximize the return on our
data investments for businesses, government, taxpayers, and communities.
Assess
Costs Everywhere – Now Even Better! - The Assess Costs Everywhere (ACE)
tool outlines the wide range of costs and risks associated with offshore
production and provides links to important public and private resources for
firms to more accurately determine the
total cost of operating overseas.
NOAA
Harnesses Digital Technology to Empower Commercial Innovation in Nautical
Charts - Using digital technology, cartographers can now use more data at a
higher spatial resolution and richer attribution than was possible on paper
nautical charts, giving the maritime industry greater navigational intelligence
to manage risks.
Creating
More Options to Improve Privacy and Security Online - Rather than divulging personal
information online, you can allow a trusted third-party to verify your online
identity and then assert specific attributes on your behalf—only as needed for
a transaction.
International
Statistical Update: Health and Education-Related Travel Now Part of Travel
Services - With the release of the monthly trade report on June 4, spending
on health- and education-related travel are now counted in the travel services
category.
Commerce
in the Community - Watershed Capital utilizes impact investing as an innovative
approach to sustainable community development. This blog post is an interview
with Shawn Lesser and Michael Whelchel, Co-founders and Partners at Watershed
Capital Group.
Commodity
Spotlight: Cotton - The Census Bureau’s Mayumi Escalante blogged that the
United States exported more than $5.5 billion of raw cotton in 2013, with 39
percent of it going to China.
Preliminary
Results from America’s Churning Races: Race and Ethnic Response Changes Between
2000 Census and 2010 Census - Three Census Bureau researchers and a
university professor combine to write a blog about how about 6 percent of the
population changed its response to the race question between the 2000 and 2010
censuses.
Under Secretary Doms wrote A
Big Day for Big Data: The Beginning of Our Data Transformation, as well as Better
Data for Better Decisions.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis wrote BEA
Listens to Customers’ Ideas on How to Unleash Data and U.S.
Current-Account Deficit Increases in First Quarter 2014, as well as International
Statistical Update: Health- and Education-Related Travel Now Part of Travel
Services on their blog this week.
Building
permits in May 2014 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of
991,000, down 6.4 percent from the April rate and down 1.9 percent from May
2013. Housing starts in May 2014 were at a SAAR of 1,001,000, down 6.5 percent
from April but up 9.4 percent from May 2013.
The
U.S. current account deficit increased to $111.2 billion or 2.6 percent of
current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2014, from
$87.3 billion (revised), or 2.0 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter of 2013.
After-tax profits for
retail corporations with assets of $50 million and over, were $14.6 billion
for the first quarter 2014 (the three months ending April 30), down $11.1
billion from fourth quarter 2013 (the three months ending Jan. 31).
Privately
owned housing starts in May 2014 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 1,001,000. This is 6.5 percent below the revised April 2014 estimate of
1,071,000.
Commerce Data in the News:
U.S. News &
World Report cites Census Bureau population projections in the article The Youngest Baby Boomers Turn 50 about an entire generation on the
cusp of retirement and impacts on the country.
The Huffington Post
shows how household income figures from the Census Bureau are not keeping pace
with the rising cost of postsecondary education in the article One Chart That Makes It Clear College
Tuition Is Becoming Unaffordable.
USA Today cites
a survey conducted by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to
report that working adults with no children at home enjoy more leisure time
than adults with small children in the article American Time Use Survey Dissects Leisure,
Working Time.
The International
Trade Administration’s 2013 Overseas Visitation Estimates, and Characteristics
of Travelers to U.S. States and Cities is highlighted in a recent
Travel and Tour World article: Why
and Where global travelers visited the United States in 2013 and in a recent eTurboNews article: 2013 visitation estimates, and
characteristics of travelers to US states and cities released.
Data Releases Next Week: New
Residential Sales: May (Census); Advance Report on Durable Goods: May (Census);
Gross Domestic Product: (Final) 2014 Q1 (BEA); Personal Income: May (BEA)
On Monday, Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade
Ken Hyatt will travel to Sofia, Bulgaria. In Bulgaria, he will meet with
Bulgarian Government officials to address impediments to trade and investment
expansion and to demonstrate high-level U.S. government support for
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which is seeking to provide the Bulgarian
Government with a new reactor for the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant.
Also on Monday, BEA Acting Director Brian Moyer will
represent BEA at the National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board
Workshop on the Value of Transportation Infrastructure in Washington, D.C.
On Tuesday, Secretary Pritzker will discuss the
importance of a globally competitive workforce on a panel titled “Charting a
New Course: Education and Employing America’s Future Leaders” at the Clinton
Global Initiative America Summit in Denver, CO. She will also meet with
executives from DigitalGlobe, Inc. to discuss the importance of commercial
satellite imagery to the U.S. economy and the upcoming launch of its
WorldView-3 satellite.
Also on Tuesday, MBDA National Director Alejandra
Castillo will attend The National Journal-Next America event in Washington,
D.C. It will focus on the country’s shifting demographics and the huge
implications for U.S. industries and the economy. Castillo will deliver remarks
on how the government can grow the economy and improve the job market for all
citizens and how the public and private sectors can best equip U.S. minorities
with the skills they need for work.
Additionally on Tuesday, Mike Dame, Director for NTIA’s
State and Local Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP), will provide an update on
the State and Local Implementation Grant Program at the National Public Safety
Telecommunications Council and International Association of Chiefs of Police
Public Safety Broadband Forum in Washington, D.C.
Also on Tuesday, EDA Deputy Assistant Secretary Matt
Erskine will participate in the National Center for American Indian Enterprise
Development, RES DC Conference in Washington, D.C.
Again on Tuesday, Census Director John Thompson will
attend a National Academy of Sciences Committee on National Statistics panel
meeting on the Census at the Keck Center in Washington, D.C.
Also on Tuesday, Deputy Under Secretary for International
Trade Ken Hyatt will travel to Istanbul, Turkey. In Turkey, Hyatt will co-chair
the third official meeting of the U.S.-Turkey Business Council, an advisory
body consisting of U.S. and Turkish senior-level business executives.
Furthermore on Tuesday, NIST will exhibit at BIO
International Convention at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA.
This event is the largest global event for the biotechnology industry. The
convention will cover all aspects of biotechnology industry including
investments, policy, state initiatives and economic development, and the
international marketplace.
On Wednesday, Secretary Pritzker will introduce new Under
Secretary Stefan M. Selig to the International Trade Administration at its
All-Hands event where she will also re-emphasize ITA’s leadership role in
promoting trade and investment.
Also on Wednesday, USPTO Deputy Director Michelle Lee
will keynote the IP section of the 2014 BIO International Convention in San
Diego, CA. This convention is the largest and most important biotechnology
gathering, bringing together over 15,000 leaders from the academic, scientific,
business, government, and other affiliated communities to make connections and
drive change.
On Wednesday as well, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
Internet Policy Task Force, hosted jointly by NTIA and USPTO, will hold a
public Copyright roundtable in Cambridge, MA, to solicit input on the legal
framework for the creation of remixes, the relevance and scope of the first
sale doctrine in the digital environment, and the appropriate calibration of
statutory damages in the contexts of individual file sharers and of secondary
liability for large-scale infringement.
On Thursday, Secretary Pritzker will travel to
Cincinnati, OH, to participate in the “Rise of the Rest Road Tour: Celebrating
American Entrepreneurship.” The tour is being organized and spearheaded by PAGE
Ambassador Steve Case and will highlight the rise of emerging startup economies
in communities across the country. The tour will cover nearly 1,000 miles and
will travel through the Midwest encouraging innovation and emphasizing the
importance of entrepreneurship to the U.S. economy.
Also on Thursday, Deputy Under Secretary for
International Trade Ken Hyatt will testify on the National Travel and Tourism
Strategy before the Subcommittee on Tourism, Competitiveness, and Innovation of
the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Additionally on Thursday, Deputy Under Secretary for
Intellectual Property and USPTO Deputy Director Michelle Lee will deliver a
major policy speech at Stanford Law School in Stanford, CA, titled Speaking
Truth to Patents: The Case for a Better Patent System. Deputy Director Lee will
update attendees on patent reform progress including implementation of
Executive Actions.
Also on Thursday, Assistant Secretary for Economic
Development Jay Williams will provide opening remarks at the Grantee Regional
Collaboration meeting at NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, MD. This meeting
will bring together four interagency initiatives involving 53 grant projects
from the Jobs Accelerator Challenge, the Rural Jobs Accelerator, the Advanced
Manufacturing Accelerator Challenge, and the Make It in America Challenge grant
programs.
Furthermore on Thursday, NOAA's National Hurricane Center
(NHC) Director Rick Knabb will address the Florida Association of Broadcasters
Annual Convention in Miami Beach. Dr. Knabb will give a presentation on the
upcoming changes to NHC products and warnings.
Secretary Pritzker joined Commerce employees at the Nationals
vs Braves game.
This week, NOAA celebrated Sea
Turtle Week. This photo comprises a green turtle hatchling.
Census
Bureau Reports Value of American Flag Imports and Exports - In celebration
of Flag Day, the Census Bureau released a graphic showing the value of U.S.
imports and exports of American Flags in 2013.
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