February 20, 2015
This week, Secretary Pritzker toured manufacturers in
Portland, Oregon and Tacoma, Washington. She was there to learn first-hand how
trade barriers are keeping American companies from accessing important export
markets. While in Tacoma, Secretary Pritzker toured General Plastics, a leading
manufacturer of plastic-based goods, where she spoke with local business
leaders and updated them on the new phase of the Administration’s National
Export initiative-NEI NEXT- and the importance of trade agreements. The
Secretary then traveled to Portland where she attended a roundtable discussion
at Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. headquarters. After hearing that a Leatherman
multi-purpose tool made in Oregon currently faces tariffs as high as 25 percent
in Malaysia and other hand tools face tariffs of 20 percent in Vietnam,
Secretary Pritzker highlighted how trade agreements will strengthen U.S.
exports and manufacturing as well as improve American competitiveness in the
global economy by lowering such barriers.
This week, Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews visited APS
BioGroup, a diversified producer of health products, in Phoenix, Arizona where
he, too, had the opportunity to share the substantial benefits that trade and
exports have to offer American companies. Additionally, Deputy Secretary
Andrews is preparing for a Cyber Security Business Development Mission to
Romania and Poland. The mission will grant U.S. firms the access to business
development opportunities such as market insights, industry contacts, business
strategies, and specific projects. If you would like to join him, please
apply by March 13, 2015.
Around Commerce, EDA attended the Global Innovation Summit
this week in San Jose, California; NIST awarded $20 million for the Community
Resilience Center of Excellence at Colorado State University; and Census
supported the “Hack Housing” hackathon co-hosted by Zillow and the University
of Washington.
As temperatures in much of the eastern half of the United
States plunges to record lows, I want to thank all the great folks at NOAA for
their important work contributing to the protection of life and property
through their forecasting and data sharing.
Have a great weekend,
-Jim
Secretary
Pritzker Hosts Roundtable Discussion with Oregon and Washington Business
Leaders on Importance of International Trade- Secretary Pritzker started
the day with a tour and visit to General Plastics, in Takoma, Washington, a
leading manufacturer of plastic-based goods. Later in
the day, Secretary Pritzker visited the headquarters of Leatherman Tool Group,
Inc. a leading manufacturer of multi-use tools in Portland, Oregon. Both of her
visits touched upon the significance of exports and trade in America.
Deputy
Secretary Andrews visits Phoenix Manufacturer and Highlights Power of Exports
to Local Economy- After seeing APS BioGroup’s facilities and meeting
employees, Deputy Secretary Andrews talked with local business leaders about
the importance of trade and exports to the local, regional and national
economy.
NIST
Awards $20 Million for Research Center to Help Communities Increase Resilience
to Disaster- The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that it has awarded a $20 million
cooperative agreement to Colorado State University (CSU) to establish the
Community Resilience Center of Excellence.
Staying
Ahead of Technology: Innovating on Education to Close the Technical Skills Gap-
In the United States, there are currently half a million open “tech jobs,” and
that number is only expected to grow over the next 10 years. The key to
matching job-seekers of this and future generations with these positions lies
solely in access to passionate teachers and a relevant technical education.
Secretary
Pritzker Participates in White House Cyber Security Summit to Discuss Importance
of Public-Private Collaboration To Combat Growing Threats- Designed to help
shape public and private sector efforts to protect American consumers and
companies from growing threats, the Summit offered Secretary Pritzker an opportunity
to hear directly from businesses about their concerns, and to highlight the
Commerce Department’s work to combat these threats and strengthen our nation’s
cybersecurity.
Understanding
and Measuring Innovation Ecosystems at the Global Innovation Summit-
There’s a lot of talk these days about “innovation ecosystems,” but what is an
innovation ecosystem? How we create those ecosystems is at the core of
the Global Innovation Summit, taking place this week in San Jose,
California.
Manufacturing
Innovation: Gaining the Advantage In a Fiercely Competitive Global Economy-
A far better story for U.S. manufacturing is beginning to take shape.
Over the past five years, U.S. manufacturers have added an average of
nearly 15,000 new jobs every month, and exports have grown at an
average annual rate of 10 percent- or more than three times faster than
the average for the preceding decade.
Join
the Cyber Security Business Development Mission to Poland and Romania- Deputy
Secretary of Commerce Bruce H. Andrews will lead a Cyber Security Business
Development Mission to Romania and Poland May 11-15, 2015. The mission will
introduce U.S. firms and trade associations to Central and Eastern Europe’s
information and communication technology (ICT) security and critical
infrastructure protection markets and to assist U.S. companies to find business
partners and export their products and services to the region.
New
TradeSource Publication- Topics covered in this publication include: Cross-Cutting: Support the Creation of Improved Data Resources; Announcing New
Enhancements for USA Trade Online; NEI/NEXT: Helping More American Companies
Reach More Markets; and Automate Export System Seminar and Workshops.
Secretary
Pritzker Discusses Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation’s 2015 State of
Entrepreneurship Address- Secretary Pritzker highlighted the
Commerce Department’s role in ensuring there is an infrastructure of
opportunity to support entrepreneurship domestically and internationally. Her
remarks were delivered to various business leaders, policy experts,
non-profits, and government officials.
Public
Safety LTE Demo Network at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships-
Last week, staff from the FirstNet technical headquarters in Boulder, Colorado,
attended the Colorado Public Safety Long Term Evolution (PS LTE) demonstration
at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine World Ski Championships
(AWSC).
InnovateHER:
2015 Innovating for Women Business Challenge- Women now make up
nearly half of the labor force and play a critical role in our nation’s
economic prosperity. InnovateHER provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs to
showcase products or services that have a measurable impact on the lives of
women and families (30%), have the potential for commercialization (40%), and
fill a need in the marketplace (30%).
New
NIST Tools to Help Boost Wireless Channel Frequencies and Capacity- Forecasted
huge increases in mobile data traffic call for exponentially more channel
capacity. Boosting bandwidth and capacity could speed downloads, improve
service quality, and enable new applications like the Internet of
Things connecting a multitude of devices.
Stakeholders
Continue Historic Work on Internet DNS Transition at ICANN Singapore Meeting-
Last week, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held
its 52nd meeting in Singapore, where the global multi-stakeholder
community continued progress on a proposal to transition the United States role
related to the Internet Domain Name System.
So
you want to chart an artificial reef?- Two Coast Survey cartographers, Paul
Gionis and Lance Roddy, explained some of the processes, protocols, and NOAA
charting requirements to participants at the Florida Artificial Reef Summit
earlier this month.
Celebrating
Abe’s birthday! Lincoln’s slave density map is home again in President Lincoln
Cottage- The “slave density map,” created by the men of U.S. Coast Survey
in 1861, is one of Coast Survey’s most treasured historical maps. According to
Carpenter, President Lincoln used the map in his decisions to send his armies
to free blacks in some of the highest density areas in order to destabilize
Southern order.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis wrote How Do
Corporate Inversions Affect the International and National Economic Accounts?
on their blog this week.
The
estimate of U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the fourth quarter of 2014
was $79.6 billion, an increase of 2.3 percent from the third quarter of 2014.
Total retail sales for the fourth quarter of 2014 were estimated at $1,187.2
billion, an increase of 0.1 percent from the third quarter of 2014. The fourth
quarter 2014 e-commerce estimate increased 14.6 percent from the fourth quarter
of 2013 while total retail sales increased 3.7 percent in the same period.
E-commerce sales in the fourth quarter of 2014 accounted for 6.7 percent of
total sales.
Privately
owned housing starts in January 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 1,065,000. This is 2.0 percent below the revised December 2014
estimate of 1,087,000.
Commerce Data in the News:
Bloomberg News
cites Census Bureau statistics on race and ethnicity to write that Asians are
the fastest-growing racial in the Miami metropolitan area since 2000 in the
article, Sun, Sand
and Stir-Fry? Miami Woos Chinese Investors.
Forbes magazine
cites Census Bureau statistics on population and age in writing that 27 percent
of the population is age 19 and younger and has grown up with the expectation
that screens are things you interact with in the article, How to
Sell to the Generation that has Grown Up with Touch Technology.
Data Releases Next
Week: New Residential Sales: January
2015 (Census); Advance Report on Durable Goods: January 2015 (Census); Gross
Domestic Product: 2014 Q4 (BEA)
On February 21, Under Secretary Selig will deliver
remarks at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation's (ITI) annual
retreat in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Under Secretary Selig will be touching
upon a variety of key digital economy topics important to ITI (a key trade
organization), the companies it represents, and ITA.
On Monday, Secretary Pritzker will participate in a trade
roundtable at the White House with members of the Administration and a select
group of governors to discuss the Administration’s trade agenda.
On Tuesday, Secretary Pritzker will deliver remarks on
recent achievements from the Administration’s travel and tourism agenda,
including the China visa validity extension, the national goal for
international arrivals, and current initiatives responsive to previous Board
recommendations at the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board meeting.
Additionally on Tuesday, ESA Chief Economist Sue Helper
will speak on the U.S. automotive industry at the annual South Carolina Automotive
Summit hosted by the South Carolina Automotive Council and the South Carolina
Manufacturers Alliance in Greenville, SC.
On Wednesday, Assistant Secretary for Economic
Development Jay Williams will provide the keynote address during the Charlotte
Business Journal’s 3rd Annual Advanced Manufacturing Awards ceremony where he
will discuss the importance of manufacturing to the American economy.
Also on Wednesday, Feb. 25, Under Secretary for
International Trade Stefan Selig will deliver remarks at the 8th Annual Global
Infrastructure Leadership Forum at Columbia University in New York, NY, to
foster greater trade and global growth through infrastructure investment with
developing countries that are establishing themselves as competitive nations with
an infrastructure vision.
On Thursday, Secretary Pritzker will testify on the
Commerce Department’s FY16 budget request before the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies.
Additionally on Thursday, Assistant Secretary for
Economic Development Jay Williams will visit Davidson Community College of
North Carolina to make a special announcement regarding the Health Science
Building.
On Friday, USPTO Deputy Director Michelle Lee has been
invited to give brief welcome at the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC)
Quarterly Meeting at the USPTO campus.
Secretary
Pritzker’s Oregon visit included touring Leatherman Tools, Inc.’s
manufacturing site and connecting with company employees.
John Pastor, former Director of International Trade and
Development for Delaware, thanks
SelectUSA for connecting foreign companies to the states.
Every $1 million in U.S.
exports supports an average of more than 5,000 jobs here at home. Americans are selling
more goods and services abroad than ever before, but we can’t afford to sit on
the sidelines. It’s time to help our businesses grow and create jobs by
expanding their exports.
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