The role of corporations in Future Proofing Leadership

Guest blog post by Dr. Rebecca Blank, Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of CommerceThis morning, I joined economic development leaders from around the country to discuss ongoing efforts to create jobs and grow the U.S. economy. The Economic Development Forum was hosted by the U.S. Commerce Department’s SelectUSA initiative, in partnership with the White House Business Council and the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the world’s largest professional organization of economic development practitioners.The forum provided an opportunity to discuss the Obama administration’s efforts to support U.S. businesses and encourage companies to bring good jobs back to America, a trend called insourcing.Both American and international firms are increasingly looking for opportunities to invest in the U.S. And businesses are not only choosing to bring jobs back, but they are also making decisions to expand here instead of shipping jobs overseas. These investments mean that more products will be made in America. That means more jobs and greater economic security for families across this nation.

A few days ago, I reported on a distressing new report from the WTO on the recent increase in global trade protectionism.  Unfortunately, it appears that the WTO's report has plenty of company, as a relatively new article from the New York Times makes clear:

Today is the start of about two weeks of the "Two Meetings". The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opens this morning, the National People's Congress (NPC) starts Tuesday. During these couple of weeks do not expect much official news out of China that is not about these two meetings. Nor should we expect to see delegates with lots of bling, unlike in years past. Between the Internet and the anti-corruption and frugality campaigns wearing and carrying expensive name brands to these meetings may be an invitation to a scandal.

Acting Secretary Rebecca Blank joined business leaders from across the country earlier this week at the White House Business Council American Economic Competitiveness Forum on Travel and Tourism to discuss the administration’s actions to help grow travel and tourism and support the millions of jobs associated with the industry. Travel and tourism is a bright spot for the American economy, leading the recovery with growth that has outpaced the growth of the overall economy by almost 800 percent and on pace for another year of record high international visitors to the U.S.  Since even before the passage of the Travel Promotion Act in 2010, the Administration has been focused on the importance of travel and tourism.  The President recognized the importance of developing the travel and tourism industry and issued an Executive Order last January that created a new inter-agency Task Force co-chaired by the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior and charged them with developing a National Travel and Tourism Strategy to increase both domestic and international travel throughout the United States, with the goal of increasing the United States’ market share of worldwide travel. The Task Force included representatives from every agency and department whose mission intersects with the travel and tourism industry. The Task Force released the National Strategy in May with an ambitious goal of attracting 100 million international visitors ($250 billion in spending) to the U.S. annually by 2021 -- a 60% increase above the 62 million international visitors in 2011. The National Travel and Tourism Strategy laid out a blueprint for reaching that goal by focusing on five areas: Promoting the United States Enabling and enhancing travel and tourism to and within the United States Providing world-class customer service and visitor experiences Coordinating across government Conducting research and measuring results

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke addressed a town hall-style public forum at Howard University’s School of Business in Washington, D.C. today as part of a meeting of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE).

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke delivered the opening address at the U.S.-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum with the Chinese Minister of Commerce, Chen Deming.  The Forum is jointly hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.