September 12, 2014
This
week, Secretary Pritzker discussed the Administration’s efforts
to “Build America” at the Infrastructure Investment Summit hosted by the
Departments of Treasury and Transportation. She outlined several ways the
Department of Commerce is taking the lead to facilitate and strengthen the connections
among government, investors, and local investment.
Around
Commerce, NOAA updated their Whale Alert app to include the Pacific; USPTO
launched a website for children to better understand patents and trademarks;
and Under Secretary Doms spoke with the startup community about the treasure
trove of data available to them through the Department of Commerce.
Finally,
we congratulate Brian Moyer on his appointment as Director of the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA), bringing years of experience in economic statistics to
BEA. We are fortunate have his leadership moving forward.
This week marks a
full month as Chief of Staff. It’s inspiring
to work with such a talented group of people committed to creating economic
opportunities for all Americans. I told Secretary Pritzker just last night how
thrilled I am to have joined this impressive team.
Have a great
weekend.
All
the best,
Wendy
“Built to Last” – Secretary Pritzker
Talks to Investors about the Build America Investment Initiative - U.S. Secretary Penny Pritzker
discussed the Administration’s efforts to “Build America” at the Infrastructure
Investment Summit hosted by the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Transportation. The Summit brought together senior
Administration officials and more than 100 leaders from industry, finance,
philanthropy, and local and state governments to highlight the urgent need to
invest in our country’s infrastructure, build public-private partnerships, and
develop strategies for increasing investment in sectors like transportation,
water, telecommunications, and energy.
Brian
Moyer Named New BEA Director - Brian Moyer was named
Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, bringing more than 20 years of
experience in economic statistics to the post. Under his leadership, BEA has
made numerous advances in measuring and gauging the performance of the U.S.
economy, including new measures of intangible and high-tech goods and services,
expanded information on multinational companies and foreign direct investment,
and more timely GDP statistics for states, metropolitan area and industries.
President’s
Export Council to Participate in Administration’s First-Ever Fact-Finding
Mission - Secretary Pritzker and Stefan M. Selig, Under
Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, announced that they will lead a
high-level delegation on an economic fact-finding trip to Poland and Turkey
later this month.
You Don’t Have to Start a
Business to Think Like an Entrepreneur
- Assistant Secretary for Economic Development Jay Williams shares some wisdom
from a recent speech he gave to Montgomery College’s business and economics
majors.
The Survey of Business Owners and
Self-Employed Persons Is Key to Explaining America’s Economy - Did you know
that there are 27.1 million non-farm businesses in America? The U.S. Census
Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons provide the only
comprehensive source of statistics about business ownership in the U.S.
NOAA
Ship & National Aquarium Co-Host Star-Spangled Events & Tours - On
Sept. 10, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, America’s Ship for Ocean Exploration,
joined a parade of tall ships, Navy vessels, and other boats entering Baltimore
Harbor as part of the Star-Spangled Spectacular, a week-long festival
celebrating the 200th anniversary of the national anthem.
A Small Hydro Research Vessel Delivers
Big Results - Bay Hydro II has an
impressive record. She was the first vessel in Norfolk waters after Hurricane Irene and Sandy,
searching for underwater debris to speed resumption of shipping and naval
operations in Hampton Roads. In addition to leading Coast Survey evaluations of
emerging hydrographic survey technologies, she has assisted U.S. Navy
researchers who are testing new technologies.
Calling
Kids of All Ages: USPTO Launches Web Page Encouraging Invention and Science and
Tech in School - The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched
a newly redesigned section of its website for kids, but not kids alone!
Parents, teachers, and teens will find lots of resources as well as hands-on
activities for anyone from preschool to high school. The website encourages
students of all ages to engage making, inventing, and discovering the
importance of intellectual property.
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary
of AmeriCorps and Our Country’s Commitment to Public Service - Joshua Dickson, Director of
the Department’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, wrote
about his experience in AmeriCorps and how it showed him that each of us can
have notable impact when we take the time to collaborate with others towards a
common goal we are passionate about.
NIST
Vetting Guide Helps in Testing Mobile Apps to Learn What They Really Do - While many mobile
device apps such as a calendar or collaboration tools are very handy and can
improve productivity, they can also introduce vulnerabilities that can put
sensitive data and network resources at risk. The National Institute for
Standards and Technology (NIST) is preparing recommendations for organizations
to help them leverage the benefits of mobile apps while managing their risks.
Updated “Whale Alert” iPad,
iPhone app invites public to contribute to protection of West Coast whales - Whale Alert, a
free mobile application originally developed in 2012 to help protect endangered
right whales on the East Coast, has been updated with new features to provide
mariners in the Pacific with the most current information available about whale
movements and conservation initiatives.
Continuously Improving the Health
Insurance Coverage Estimates from the Current Population Survey —Jennifer Cheeseman
Day blogs that in an ever-changing world, the Census Bureau is constantly
working on ways to enhance measurement. This includes implementing a new set of
questions about health insurance coverage in the Current Population Survey’s
Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
1776 Roundtable: Businesses
Growing Out of Data - Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Mark Doms wrote about his
visit to the start-up hub 1776, to discuss the Department of Commerce’s efforts
to make government data more accessible and informative – to build businesses,
grow the economy and help governments and individuals make more informed
decisions.
How the Census Bureau Measures
Income and Poverty
— The Census Bureau’s Victoria Velkoff wrote that the latest income, poverty
and health insurance statistics from two sources will be released Sept. 16 and
Sept. 18 — and the figures may be different. The two surveys collect data
differently, and the size of geography dictates on which statistics you should
use.
USPTO
Deputy Director Michelle Lee Discusses Entrepreneurship and Job Creation at the
Virginia Innovation Partnership Virginia Ventures Forum - Deputy
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office Michelle Lee addressed the
Virginia Ventures Forum, a meeting of the statewide Virginia Innovation
Partnership (VIP). One of only seven multi-institution initiatives to win
federal funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce's i6 Challenge in 2012,
VIP is bringing together universities, community colleges, corporations,
investment capital, and other resources to drive promising research discoveries
forward and accelerate innovation and economic growth throughout the
Commonwealth.
Scientists Complete a Comprehensive Biological Study
of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary - Flower
Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary consists of three banks, which rise to
approximately 60 feet from depths of 400 feet. Overall scientists spent three
years collecting data in the sanctuary.
This Data contributed to establishing a baseline: a measure of what the
status of fish and habitats are now. This information will be used to inform
future management decisions, including a research area that will be used as a
control area for conducting future experiments.
Manufacturing
corporations’ seasonally adjusted after-tax profits were $153.2 billion for the
second quarter of 2014, up $14.2 billion from
first quarter of 2014.
July 2014 sales of merchant
wholesalers were
$458.6 billion, up 0.7 percent from last month. End-of-month inventories were
$533.8 billion, up 0.1 percent from last month.
Second-quarter estimates for
selected service industries
— U.S. information sector revenue for the second quarter of 2014 was $333.2
billion, an increase of 0.8 percent from the first quarter. The estimate of
professional, scientific and technical services revenue was $374.0 billion, an
increase of 1.4 percent from the first quarter. Administrative and support and
waste management and remediation services revenue was $191.9 billion, an
increase of 1.9 percent from the first quarter.
Advance estimates of U.S. retail
and food services sales for August
were $444.4 billion, an increase of 0.6 percent from the previous month, and
5.0 percent above August 2013. Total sales for the June through August 2014
period were up 4.5 percent from the same period a year ago.
The combined value of
distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for July was estimated at $1,360.3
billion, up 0.8 percent from June 2014 and were up 5.3 percent from July 2013.
Manufacturers’ and trade inventories were estimated at an end-of-month level of
$1,750.1 billion, up 0.4 percent from June 2014 and up 5.9 percent from July
2013.
Commerce
Data in the News: POLITICO’s Morning Tech highlighted Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Mark Doms’s
teleconference with over 100 business leaders on Wednesday hosted by Business
Forward on how ‘The Commerce Department is uniquely positioned as America’s
“Data Agency.”’
Business Insider cites
median household income statistics from the Census Bureau’s American Community
Survey to show the distribution of wealth around the country in the article Here’s the Most Affluent Town in Every
State.
Insight News cites Census Bureau census figures and ancestry
statistics to write that the ever-growing Hmong population could have a big
impact during the upcoming elections in the article Six Reasons Why Hmong Americans Should
Vote This Year.
Data Releases Next Week (Sept. 15-19): Quarterly
Financial Report/Retail Trade: 2014 Q2 (Census); International Transactions:
2014 Q2 (BEA); New Residential Construction: August (Census)
Also on Monday, Assistant Secretary for
Economic Development Jay Williams will provide remarks at the State Science and
Technology Institute Annual Conference in Chicago, IL. He will discuss Obama administration
efforts to grow regional economies and support our nation’s innovators and
entrepreneurs.
Additionally on Monday, as part of a
NIST privacy engineering initiative, NIST will host the 2nd Privacy Engineering
Workshop to consider draft privacy engineering definitions and concepts. The
workshop is co-sponsored with the International Association of Privacy
Professionals.
On Tuesday, Secretary Pritzker will
address the urgent need to boost our companies’ economic competitiveness by
bringing more women into corporate leadership during remarks at the Johns
Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Global
Conference on Women in the Boardroom in Washington, DC.
On Tuesday, USPTO will host a First
Inventor to File (FITF) Roadshow event at Franklin Pierce IP Center at UNH
School of Law in Concord, NH. The public meeting will serve as an opportunity
for USPTO subject matter experts and stakeholders to discuss the FITF
provisions and updates since its implementation in March 2013.
On Tuesday, Under Secretary for Economic
Affairs Mark Doms will discuss the Commerce data plan at an Internet
Association Data Roundtable at eBay’s Washington, D.C. office location.
Companies expected to attend include Lyft, etsy, Google, Amazon, Netflix,
Facebook, Yahoo!, and Yelp.
On Wednesday, Deputy Secretary Bruce
Andrews will deliver remarks at the Software and Information Industry
Association “The Software Century: Analyzing Economic Impact & Job
Creation” event at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC. Deputy
Secretary Andrews will participate in an armchair discussion with a representative
from SIIA and discuss how the software industry fuels economic growth and job
creation.
Also on
Wednesday, Census
Bureau Deputy Director Nancy Potok will speak at a session of the Association
of Public Data Users conference in Arlington, VA, about how the Census Bureau
and the National Center for Health Statistics teamed up to introduce new ways
to measure health insurance in the changing environment.
On
Thursday, Secretary Pritzker will participate in the National Network for
Manufacturing Innovation Day (NNMI Day) to address the need for pending
bipartisan legislation – the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation
Act -- which would establish a national Network for Manufacturing Innovation
(NNMI). She will be joined by Sen.
Sherrod Brown, Reps. Joe Kennedy and Tom Reed, several business leaders and the
directors of the newly established pilot Institutes of Manufacturing Innovation
(IMIs) at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.
Also
on Thursday, Deputy Director General for the U.S. and Foreign Commercial
Service Judy Reinke will travel to Paducah, KY, to provide keynote remarks at a
rural outreach event for small, medium-sized and minority-owned businesses.
On Friday, Joann Hill, Chief of MBDA’s Office of Business
Development, will deliver the luncheon keynote address at the Deleting the
Digital Divide 4D National Symposium & Grand Opening in Detroit, MI. Hill
will provide her perspective on how equipping Detroit residents with 21st
century marketable skills can jolt the local economy in Detroit, MI.
Secretary
of Commerce Penny Pritzker discussed the Administration’s
efforts to “Build America” at the Infrastructure Investment Summit hosted by the
U.S. Departments of Treasury and Transportation.
Brian
Brisson, Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Brazil, talks
about why Brazil is a good market for most companies in the United States.
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