December 12, 2014
This week, Secretary Pritzker visited
Montgomery College in Germantown, Maryland, which recently received a Trade
Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training federal grant to
lead a consortium of 14 Maryland community colleges, in partnership with 37
employers, to build career pathways for cybersecurity and information
technology jobs. While in Maryland, Secretary Pritzker participated in a
roundtable where she emphasized that skills development is an important issue
for America’s workforce and businesses. She then visited the National Institute
of Standards and Technology for a tour and to speak at their annual awards
ceremony. Yesterday, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker joined President
Obama to hear recommendations from the President’s Export Council (PEC) on policies
that will increase U.S. economic growth through international commerce. The PEC
also presented a report on its recent commercial diplomacy fact-finding mission
to Poland and Turkey that Secretary Pritzker co-led with PEC Vice Chair and
Xerox CEO Ursula Burns earlier this fall.
Secretary Pritzker and U.S. Secretary of
Energy Ernest Moniz earlier this week announced that they will lead a Business
Development Mission to China in April 2015, focused on industries supporting
Smart Cities and Smart Growth as part of several efforts underway that will
help strengthen and expand U.S.-China clean energy cooperation.
The Partnership for Public Service named the
Department of Commerce the number 2 place to work in the federal government.
Around Commerce, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office hosted a data roundtable
with their users and NOAA reveals the secrets of “San Francisco’s Titanic.”
U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and U.S. Secretary of
Energy Ernest Moniz Announce Business Development Mission to China-
The trade mission will help U.S. companies launch or increase their business in
China in areas such as green buildings, building energy retrofitting, building
management, green data centers, carbon capture utilization and storage, energy
efficiency technologies, clean air and water technologies, waste treatment
technologies, smart grid and green transportation.
U.S.-China Relations: Great for TV, but Greater for the U.S.
Economy- While House of Cards protagonist Mr. Underwood used the
U.S.- China Join Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) to start a trade war,
the reality is that the United States and China use it to support trade peace –
resolving bilateral tensions and exploring areas of mutual cooperation. The
JCCT has since resulted in significant progress on issues U.S. businesses have
identified as priority concerns in China, including: protection and enforcement
of intellectual property rights.
Secretary Pritzker Visits Montgomery College to
Discuss Importance of Training America’s Workforce- Secretary
Pritzker participated in a roundtable discussion with representatives from
Maryland’s community colleges, state and local officials, and employers serving
as partners through this consortium. She emphasized that skills development is
an important issue for America’s workforce and businesses. Additionally,
Secretary Pritzker highlighted the Commerce Department’s key role in addressing
the threat of cybersecurity.
President Obama Announces $400M for Manufacturing Hubs and
Skills Training- This announcement fulfills the President’s 2014
State of the Union pledge to launch four new institutes this year, for a total
of eight institutes launched so far, and puts the Administration past the
halfway mark on the President’s original goal of creating 15 manufacturing
innovation institutes supported through executive action. The Department of Commerce
is committed to the President’s vision of creating a full national network of
up to 45 manufacturing institutes over the next 10 years.
Staff-Led Groups Create Change Within the International
Trade Administration- This year, the International Trade
Administration’s Industry and Analysis (I&A) team launched the “Renaissance
Project.” The initiative aims to create a system of turning ideas into actions,
and it has helped increase our team’s productivity and boost morale. Some of
the initiatives are: I&A Social Hour, I&A Conversation Series, I&A
Responsibilities Matrix, and Training Matrix.
USPTO Open Data Roundtable – An Awesome Beginning-
Thomas Beach, Senior Advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary and Director,
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and Scott Beliveau, Open Data Team
Lead, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wrote about how the USPTO Open Data
Roundtable brought together diverse members of the user community, including
industry representatives, prior art searchers, and academics, with USPTO’s data
team.
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Workforce Skills Pillars in
Ensuring U.S. Competitiveness- Dr. Stephen S. Tang, Member of the
Commerce Department’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and
Entrepreneurship (NACIE), says that his goal is to serve and represent
innovation ecosystems. He believes that no matter where you’re from, bolstering
innovation and entrepreneurship should be the defining policy issue across the
political spectrum.
BEA Operational Improvements Enable Agency to Publish More
Regional Economic Statistics- These improvements will safeguard
businesses’ private information, while ensuring vital regional data is
available to policy makers and other data users. One improvement is in the area
of county-level earnings.
Defining Operational Excellence One Person at a Time-
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) celebrated their
annual awards ceremony. This is where NIST celebrates operational excellence
through the many achievements of its scientific, engineering, administrative
and other support staff members. This year the agency was honored to have U.S.
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker provide remarks at the event.
MBDA Making Operational Excellence a Priority in 2014-
In response to the President’s call to make 2014 “a year of action,” MBDA
ensured that the Department of Commerce reached many more minority-owned firms
throughout the nation. MBDA also launched a concentrated effort focused on
engaging minority business enterprises in emerging industry opportunities.
Competing to Win: How We Can Help U.S. Exporters Succeed at
the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games- Rio 2016 presents new
opportunities for U.S. exporters in a broad range of sectors. And, and the
Commercial Service team in Brazil is working closely with the Olympics
Organizing Committee to make sure U.S. companies know about all of these
opportunities. Take a look at the action plan provided by the International
Trade Administration.
Getting to Know The SBIR/STTR Programs: 11 Agencies; One
Playlist- Take a peek at the newly released Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) YouTube Playlist #2 with videos from this summer’s
National SBIR/STTR Conference. Across the 11 federal agencies that participate,
the shared goal of the SBIR/STTR programs is to invest in R&D projects that
stimulate technological innovation, address national needs, and strengthen
small businesses and the economy through commercialization.
Revealing the Secrets of “San Francisco’s Titanic”-
With the help of several private partners and cutting-edge technology, NOAA’s
Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has brought back the first-ever 3-D
images of this long-lost shipwreck, which historians have called the “Titanic
of the Golden Gate.”
A Change in Circumstances: Family and Household Transitions
and Child Well-Being- Census Bureau demographer Lynda Laughlin
writes that change is inevitable, but how often things change can matter for
the well-being of children. The most common type of transition at 32 percent
was a change in a parent’s employment status. About 3 percent of children also
experienced both a family structure and residential change.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis wrote that BEA Adds More Open Data to API on their blog
this week.
October 2014 wholesale inventories were $542
billion, up 0.4 percent from the revised September level and up 6.8 percent
from October 2013. Sales were $454.6 billion, up 0.2 percent from the revised
September level and up 4.3 percent from October 2013.
November 2014 retail and food services sales were
$449.3 billion, an increase of 0.7 percent from October 2014 and 5.1 percent
higher than November 2013. Excluding automobiles, retail and food services
sales in November 2014 were $357.3 billion, up 0.5 percent from the prior month
and up 4.3 percent from one year earlier.
October 2014 business
inventories were $1,760.4 billion, up 0.2 percent from September and up 4.8 percent
from October 2013. Sales were $1,350.9 billion, down 0.1 percent from the
previous month but up 3.4 percent from one year earlier.
Commerce Data in the News: The Wall Street Journal cites
population projections from the Census Bureau to write that America’s
non-Hispanic white population will cease being the majority in 2044 — one year
later than previous projections — in the article Waiting for the U.S. to Become a “Majority-Minority” Nation?
You’ll Have to Wait A Little Longer.
Bloomberg News cites statistics from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey
to write that 74 percent of custodial parents receive child support compared
with just 20 percent in Japan in the article, Single Moms Live in Poverty as Abenomics Yet to Ease Gender
Gap.
MSN cites
statistics from the Census Bureau to write that the homeownership rate for
Americans age 65 and over has remained at 80 percent while dropping for every
other age group in the article Older Americans Buoy Housing With High Ownership Rate.
The latest data on economic growth in the third quarter of 2014
from the Bureau of Economic Analysis are mentioned in a recent New York
Times article: Brighter Economy Raises Odds of Action in Congress.
Data
Releases Next Week: Quarterly Financial Report/Retail Trade: 2014 Q3 (Census); New
Residential Construction: November (Census); International Transactions: 2014
Q3 (BEA)
On Monday, Census Bureau Director John
Thompson will chair the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology’s policy
seminar “Hard Choices: Techniques and Tradeoffs When Surveying Hard-to-Reach
Populations” at the Washington Convention Center.
Also on BEA Director Brian Moyer will
participate in a panel session on “Measuring and Communicating the Value of
Federal Statistics” at the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology
Statistical Policy Seminar in Washington, DC.
Starting on Tuesday, Secretary Pritzker will
travel to Chicago, IL for the 25th session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission
on Commerce and Trade (JCCT). JCCT is the primary forum for addressing
bilateral trade and investment issues and promoting commercial opportunities
between the United States and China.
On Tuesday, Census Bureau Deputy Director
Nancy Potok will be on the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology panel
on “Expanding Leadership and Substantive Skills of Statistical Agency
Personnel” at the Washington Convention Center.
On Wednesday, Under Secretary of Commerce for
Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathryn Sullivan will be
joined by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Principal
Assistant Director for Environment and Energy Tammy Dickinson in announcing as
multi-agency sponsored "Nutrient Sensor Challenge Competition" to
speed the development of new sensors for nutrients such as phosphorus and
nitrogen aimed at improving the nation's water quality during a luncheon
keynote address and media event at the American Geophysical Union Annual Fall
Conference in San Francisco, CA.
On Thursday, USPTO will host the sixth public
meeting of the Multistakeholder Forum on improving the operation of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice and takedown system at the USPTO
headquarters in Alexandra, VA.
On Friday, Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Economic Development Matt Erskine will deliver remarks at the Second Annual
Summit on Regional Competitiveness in Chicago, IL.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker joined
President Obama to hear recommendations from the President’s Export Council on
policies that will increase U.S. economic growth through international
commerce.
U.S. Shipment of Goods by Tons- The Census
Bureau posted a graphic that shows the top 10 shipped products from the 2012
Commodity Flow Survey, led by gravel and crushed stone at 1.54 billion tons.
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