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Secretary Raimondo Joins Vice President Harris in Addressing Care Economy and Need to Invest in Human Infrastructure 

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Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo joined Vice President Kamala Harris, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and other leaders and stakeholders in addressing the first-ever Care Can’t Wait Summit. The summit convened caregivers, care workers, people with disabilities, older adults, children, parents & grandparents, advocates & policy leaders virtually across the United States to build a stronger, broader base of support for public investment in the care infrastructure as part of the Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan.

Today there are 53 million unpaid family caregivers in the United States. At the beginning of the pandemic, the childcare sector lost 400,000 jobs and many are still unemployed. American families continue to struggle as women, most notably women of color, have been forced out of the workforce. Through the American Jobs Plan, the Biden Administration is working to provide the critical infrastructure needed to support our Nation’s caregivers so they can earn a living and care for their loved ones.

Secretary Raimondo was among one of the first speakers at the summit and addressed the importance of our Nation’s caregivers to our economic recovery and investing in a strong care infrastructure.

“The pandemic has shown us the importance of care work. Care is infrastructure,” said Secretary Raimondo. “We must create the infrastructure and provide the resources to take care of our caregivers.”

Secretary Raimondo also stressed that the care economy is core to American competitiveness and that it is not only a business issue, but an “everybody issue.” She shared that this issue is near and dear to her heart and that she is thankful she has had support for the past 15 years in raising her children and having a care team today that allows her 90-year old mother to age with dignity.

"There are millions of women, mostly women of color, unbelievably hardworking, working full time in poverty, taking care of our loved ones,” she said. “That's WRONG. It's time to build the infrastructure required so people aren't living in poverty.”

During the summit, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stressed, “Investing in the care economy is a necessity and it’s a matter of justice.”

Later in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris joined the summit and outlined the Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan and how it will include the care economy.

“We are expanding the definition of infrastructure, it’s not only about roads and bridges and water and broadband; it’s about care,” said Vice President Harris. “The American Jobs Plan invests $400 billion into our country’s infrastructure, our human infrastructure.”

The American Jobs Plan proposes substantial investments in the infrastructure of our care economy and creating new and better jobs for caregiving workers. Vice President Harris announced that in the coming weeks, the Administration will build on the American Jobs Plan with the American Family Plan.

“We want to create an economy where care is readily available for those who need it,” she said. “We want to ensure caregivers are treated with respect. In supporting this economy, we will create the kind of change that lasts for generations. For caregivers, that means better wages, more protections, and more security. For families that means more accessibility and more affordability.”

The Care Can’t Wait Summit was hosted by Ai-jen Poo, director of Caring Across Generations, a national group advocating for the care of older adults, individuals with disabilities, families and caregivers.

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Happy Earth Day from the Department’s Office of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Programs (OSEEP)!

OSEEP received nearly 200 wonderful submissions for the 2021 Earth Day Photo Challenge and is excited to share a selection of featured photos. From photos of Diving With a Purpose volunteers at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to shots of colleagues picking up trash together, the Earth Day Photo Challenge is a reminder of what a thoughtful and inspiring community the Department of Commerce brings together.

Download OSEEP’s Earth Day newsletter to see the beautiful photos submitted by the Commerce community.  The newsletter also includes information on:

President Biden's Plan to Revitalize Climate Change Action in the U.S.

2021 SEE Ambassadors Call for Nominations

Online Training with OSEEP – Energy 101 Coming Up Next Month!

Spotlight on the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Grow Fruits and Vegetables at Home!

The Green Store Listserv: Best of 2020

What's your carbon footprint?

Download OSEEP’s Earth Day Newsletter

Due to the overwhelming response to the Earth Day Photo Challenge, OSEEP is also creating a digital Department of Commerce Earth Day Photo Book, which will come out next month. Many thanks to everyone who participated and happy Earth Day to all!

If you have questions about the Earth Day Photo Book, please contact Sarah Yardley at syardley@doc.gov.

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U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Addresses Clean Energy Economy and Importance of Business and Academia in Fight for Climate Change

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo joined President Biden and world leaders today at the Leader’s Summit on Climate. President Biden convened this summit to address the world’s impending climate crisis, including emissions reductions, finance, innovation and job creation, and resilience and adaptation. During his first few days in office, President Biden signed an executive order rejoining the Paris Climate Accord setting a course for the United States to tackle the climate crisis at both home and abroad.

On day two of the summit, Secretary Raimondo participated in the “Unleashing Climate Innovation” session and moderated a panel of leading organizations at the cutting-edge of clean technology innovation. The session highlighted the critical role of technological innovation in achieving a net-zero, climate-resilient economy and the importance of accelerating public and private investment in climate innovation.

“Governments will not solve climate change alone. We also want and need private firms and academic research institutions to play a big role in advancing clean technology innovation,” she said.

Secretary Raimondo also highlighted the broad economic benefits of climate action, with a strong focus on job creation and ensuring that all communities and workers benefit from the clean-energy transition.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the United States to develop and produce advanced technologies, export them around the world, and speed global net-zero transitions,” she said. “This work will ultimately lead to good-paying jobs and better technology for the world’s fight against climate change.”

She also noted that in 2020 global investments in clean technologies crossed $500 billion and that in the coming decades the new energy economy will open multitrillion-dollar markets for clean technologies.

During the summit, President Biden announced a new target for the United States to achieve a 50-52 percent reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030 – building on progress to-date and by positioning American workers and industry to tackle the climate crisis.

“When people talk about climate, I think jobs,” said President Biden. “Within our climate response lies an extraordinary engine of job creation and economic opportunity ready to be fired up.”

President Biden’s announcement is part of larger focus on building back better in a way that will create millions of good-paying, union jobs, ensure economic competitiveness, advance environmental justice, and improve the health and security of communities across America.

Below is a full list of participants in the “Unleashing Climate Innovation” session.

U.S. Participants

Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm

Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry

Leaders:

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Denmark

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel

President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya

Prime Minister Erna Solberg, NorwayPrime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore

Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, United Arab Emirates

Speakers:

Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency

Anna Borg, President and CEO, Vattenfall

Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Danielle Merfeld, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, GE Renewable Energy

Audrey Zibelman, Vice President, X

Secretary Raimondo has been a long-time champion of climate change reform and has been a consistent advocate for more clean energy jobs. As governor of Rhode Island, she signed an executive order to advance 100% renewable electricity for the state by 2030 and pushed through America’s first offshore wind farm. During her confirmation hearing, Secretary Raimondo stated that creating good-paying jobs to meet the needs of climate will be one of her top priorities as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Secretary Raimondo also is part of the Administration’s National Climate Task Force.

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Women-Owned Businesses in the 21st Century

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Celebrate the Power of Travel during National Travel and Tourism Week 2021 

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By U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo

Travel has the power to connect people with places and expose us to new cultures and ways of life. For well over a year, Americans made difficult decisions to forgo personal travel and business trips to protect ourselves, our families, friends, and communities from the COVID-19 pandemic. As we mark National Travel and Tourism Week (May 2--8, 2021), I am hopeful for the future as travelers who are fully vaccinated can begin to travel safely.

The U.S. travel and tourism industry has been disproportionately affected by the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with small businesses that rely on new and returning visitors hit particularly hard. In 2020 employment in the travel-dependent leisure and hospitality sector declined by 3.3 million, accounting for more than a third (37%) of the overall decline in non-farm employment last year. At the same time, international visitation to the United States declined 76%.

In response to a deflated travel and tourism sector and its immense impact on our economy and people, the U.S. government and President Biden took swift and decisive action.

President Biden’s American Rescue Plan will provide significant aid to communities that have suffered economic injury related to these declines. Specifically, $750 million has been allotted to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for these states and communities hit hardest in the travel, tourism, or outdoor recreation sectors. Accordingly, I met with the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and heard its recommendations on initiatives to support leisure and business travel, including infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects that would be most impactful for these communities as they respond and recover from COVID-19.

In addition, the International Trade Administration’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) has developed several new tools for the industry’s use, principal among them the COVID-19 Travel Industry Monitor. The Monitor includes key indicators from the Small Business Pulse Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, and snapshot data in six key areas:  COVID-19, International Visitation, Trade in Travel, Key Economic Indicators, Travel Indicators, and Sentiment. More information on this useful tool can be found here.

We must reignite the travel and tourism industry, but we must do so safely and inclusively, working to provide equitable relief to Americans in every part of the country. National Travel and Tourism Week 2021 offers us a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come in the face of a global crisis and a chance to celebrate the power of travel to fill our souls and fuel our nation’s economic prosperity. Restoring Americans’ spirits and recovering our nation’s economy will not be possible without this important industry.

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National Travel and Tourism Week 2021 Graphic

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National Travel and Tourism Week 2021 Graphic

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Countervailing Duty Determination on Imports of 100- to 150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft From Canada

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Expressing Gratitude for Public Safety Heroes

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Edward Parkinson, Chief Executive Officer, First Responder Network Authority

First responders face incredible challenges to keep our communities safe. This past year it has been especially true as public safety workers continued to uphold their oath to protect and serve during a worldwide pandemic. While we honor and celebrate these heroes every day, every May, we dedicate extra time to thank them for their selflessness and dedication.

Join us at the First Responder Network Authority and the Department of Commerce as we highlight the commitment and sacrifices made by those in the fire service, law enforcement, and emergency medical services (EMS), as well as our nation’s volunteers and public servants during these annual celebrations:

May 4

International Firefighters’ Day

Every May 4, we honor firefighters around the world for the risks they take to keep our communities safe. International Firefighters’ Day reminds us to take a moment to remember all who made the ultimate sacrifice while fulfilling their oath to protect life and property. FirstNet Authority Senior Fire Services Advisor Gary McCarraher said, “Firefighting is a unique profession; you can go to work and do everything right and still make the ultimate sacrifice in service to your community. This has been magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic as firefighters continue to serve day-in and day-out. Please join me in thanking those who tirelessly serve to keep our communities safe and honor those who have lost their lives in service to our communities; remember their families and loved ones and pray for them to have strength in their time of need.”

Join the conversation on social media using #InternationalFirefightersDay to honor firefighters and the sacrifices they make to keep us safe.

May 2-8

Public Service Recognition Week

Public Service Recognition Week is a time to recognize those who serve as local, federal, state, and tribal government employees. Public servants play an important role in keeping our communities running every day and in the aftermath of emergencies and disasters. At the FirstNet Authority, we are honored to serve public safety and enable technology to make their jobs easier.

Celebrate with us using #PSRW to show appreciation for our nation’s government employees.

May 9-15

National Police Week

During National Police Week, we honor the contributions, commitments, and sacrifices made by our nation’s law enforcement officers. As FirstNet Authority Senior Law Enforcement Advisor Harry Markley explained, “National Police Week allows us the opportunity to honor those officers and their families that gave the ultimate sacrifice in the performance of their duty. When officers take their oath to serve, they are embarking on a career where they are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for the better good of their community. These are very special people who deserve to be honored. During this week, please take the time to think about the officers and their families who paid the ultimate price for our safety.”

Show your appreciation for law enforcement officers and the sacrifices they have made to protect and serve their communities using #NationalPoliceWeek on social media.

May 16-22

National EMS Week

In 1974, President Gerald Ford authorized National EMS Week. This time is dedicated to honoring the work EMS practitioners do in caring for our communities. Brent Williams, FirstNet Authority Senior EMS Advisor, expressed his gratitude for EMS providers across the country, saying, “EMS practitioners show their value in amazing ways. The work they do is essential and vital for our society. It helps make our communities safe and secure, it provides comfort and real medical help in times of need, and it is always there.”

Help us celebrate those on the front line of emergency medical response using #EMSWeek on social media.

Please take a moment over the next several weeks to recognize the work of our nation’s first responders and public servants. The work they do continues to be more vital than ever. From everyone here at the FirstNet Authority, thank you to all members of public safety. We appreciate everything you do for our communities, and we are proud to serve you.

The FirstNet Authority was established in light of September 11, 2001, to create a nationwide broadband network specifically for first responders. Learn more about how we support public safety across the country at FirstNet.gov/FirstNetFor.

Cross-post from First Responder Network Authority Blog

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Commerce Department Honors Teacher Appreciation Week Providing Teachers Valuable Online Resources  

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Ever wanted to take a virtual tour of the ocean, learn about the role of a hurricane hunter, be a part of a superhero “Measurement League," or collect cards on famous inventors? Are you looking to educate your students about the importance of being counted in the Decennial Census?

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we celebrate the impact teachers have on our kids including all the teachers who have worked tirelessly with students and families over the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. To continue to support our teachers, we have put together a list of valuable online resources Commerce Department agencies offer to educate K-12 students on topics such as our Nation’s economy, our oceans, weather forecasts, notable inventions, and the importance of Census data to their everyday lives. These educational resources come from important Commerce Department agencies including the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Find below a list of these educational resources for teachers, parents, and elementary, middle, and high school students. The links below include interactive lessons, hands-on home activities, colorful maps, entertaining videos, virtual tours, tutorials, and mobile apps.

Bureau of Economic Analysis: BEA provides resources for both students and teachers to learn about your state’s economy, how far your money will go in another state, and how we measure America’s economic well-being.

BEA Classroom:  https://www.bea.gov/resources/learning-center/bea-in-the-classroom

BEA Learning Center: https://www.bea.gov/resources/learning-center

U.S. Census Bureau: The Census Bureau offers resources to help your school, students and children learn about the importance of the once-in-a-decade Census and the importance of counting everyone. Activities include colorful maps about our country. Students can do lessons to learn about the importance of Census data to their state.

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis.html

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Just to name a few, students can learn about the weather, the Earth, space, sea life, the role of a hurricane hunter in forecasting hurricanes, and take a virtual tour of the ocean. And, specifically for Teacher Appreciation Week, NOAA compiled a series of videos thanking teachers for all they do to inspire the future generation of marine biologists, meteorologists, climate researchers and so much more.

https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/education-at-home

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): Kids can learn about the metric system, timekeeping and even how speed and spin affects the curve ball in baseball. They also can learn more about the importance of measurement in everyday life through our animated series featuring NIST’s Measurement Superhero League of metrics superheroes. And if your kid has a question about science? They can ask it of our scientists, and we just may answer it in an upcoming “Kids Ask NIST” video series.

More here: https://www.nist.gov/kids

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: USPTO offers resources for kids, teens, parents, and teachers. Kids can build their own inventions, collect famous inventor cards and Girl Scouts can earn their Intellectual Property (IP) Patch. Learn about inventions, famous patent holders, stories of inventors and entrepreneurs whose work has made a positive impact on the world including the invention of the modern dishwasher, an invention by an NFL football player to combat concussions and traumatic brain injuries, and an invention to improve the well-being of people with mobility impairments.

Science of Innovation
Inventor Trading Card Series
Journeys of Innovation

National Inventors Hall of Fame:  In partnership with the USPTO, the prestigious National Inventors Hall of Fame provides hands-on STEM and invention education programs to schools and homes nationwide for students of all ages. Featuring world-changing inventors, the programs help students learn creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork. Explore their range of programming here: https://www.invent.org/programs

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National Institute of Standards and Technology

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Kids can learn about the importance of measurement in everyday life through NIST's animated series featuring metrics superheroes. 

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Kids can learn about the importance of measurement in everyday life through NIST's animated series featuring metrics superheroes.

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Statement From Secretary Ross And Secretary Mnuchin Following The U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue

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Spotlight on Commerce: Jenny Wang, Multimedia Specialist, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

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Guest blog post by Jenny Wang, Multimedia Specialist, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

I am a Multimedia Specialist in the Public Affairs Office at the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). I joined NIST in June 2020 with the goal of creating animations that would help NIST enhance its scientific storytelling. My team and I work with scientists, writers, and educators to visually communicate NIST’s research and findings in measurement science.

In May 2020, I graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine with a master’s degree in medical and biological illustration. In the program, we were introduced to a multitude of ways to effectively tell stories in a scientific and medical context, from 3D animations to surgical illustrations to interactive modules. I loved the animation portion the best and focused my thesis on identifying the best practices of 2D animation to enhance learner responses.

I love my job at NIST because it directly draws from my love for animation and gives me so many opportunities to creatively explore and tell the story of important scientific topics in a fun way. For example, NIST has an animated Measurement League superheroes series that educates kids about the importance of measurement in everyday life. Our video team recently completed the fourth installment of the SI Superheroes series (“Two Truths and a Lie”) for children in grades four to six, focusing on fun facts about each of the superheroes. SI stands for the International System of Units, which is commonly known as the metric system, and proves definitions of units of measurement that are widely accepted in science and technology such as time, length, and temperature. As part of the Measurement League project, I was given the opportunity to reimagine the superhero characters in a new style that would make them more modern and relatable to our target audience. Reimagining them was quite fun; I embedded each unique personality into their respective design. Finally, I animated the episode with a bit of 3D and 2D combined. Check out the video here with links to two different platforms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0BEGuPZU5U

https://www.nist.gov/video/league-si-superheroes-episode-4-two-truths-lie

I also worked with one of NIST’s graphic designers to animate NIST’s “What Is PNT?” video. This video explains how billions of devices around the world rely on something called positioning, navigation, and timing – or PNT – and why PNT is so important to our economy. Other projects I am currently working on include creating animations for an important tool for measuring light called a frequency comb and an animation on measuring greenhouse gas emissions. I am also working on developing a video on how a NIST device is helping researchers better understand how embers help spread wildfires.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is important to me because it helps me embrace my roots while also highlighting a unique Asian American experience in the U.S. I was born in Lanzhou, China, and grew up there with my grandparents before immigrating to the U.S. at five years of age. Because I was so young, a lot of my memories from back then have faded, but I still have inexorable ties to my heritage that I cherish to this day. When I walk a crowded city street in Baltimore and smell the strange combination of cooking food and petrol, I’m instantly transported back to the streets of China, walking amid the food vendors dishing out Gua Gua, our hometown specialty. Many of my ties to my Chinese heritage end there, as I spent the rest of my life growing up in American suburbs. To me, this transition was bittersweet, as part of me hoped to understand my heritage better but another part of me is incredibly grateful to have had the opportunities I’ve had in the U.S. One of my goals in the future is to collect my Grandma’s recipes so I can recreate the foods I grew up enjoying, and to share that experience with friends and family in the states.

Ed. note: This post is part of the Spotlight on Commerce series highlighting the contributions of Department of Commerce employees during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

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National Institute of Standards and Technology

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Jenny Wang, Multimedia Specialist, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

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Jenny Wang, Multimedia Specialist, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Antidumping Duty Determinations on Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Russia and the United Arab Emirates

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Spotlight on Commerce: Mary Owen-Thomas, Regional Public Affairs Specialist-Chicago, Economic Development Administration (EDA)

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Guest blog post by Mary Owen-Thomas, Regional Public Affairs Specialist-Chicago, Economic Development Administration (EDA)

I am a Regional Public Affairs Specialist with the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration’s Chicago regional office. I handle public affairs for the region, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. My goal is to raise the visibility of the agency and highlight the amazing work of our grantees. I do a lot of writing – press releases, success stories, newsletters, social media copy – and conduct media outreach.

I’m a storyteller by nature with more than 15 years of journalism experience. My favorite part of my job is talking to people about their economic development projects and then turning it into a relatable story to share with the public. Communicating these stories is important because the projects within EDA create jobs, spur entrepreneurship, help small business and improve the conditions of not only my region, but also in communities across this country.

I was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in nearby Dearborn – in the shadow of Henry Ford’s historic and belching River Rouge plant. Growing up in the Detroit area in the 1980s and 1990s gave me a unique perspective into how a whole region can be devastated by economic disinvestment.

I received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Michigan State University, and a master’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University Northwest. I started my career in journalism at the Detroit Free Press and Chicago Tribune. As a child, I was inspired to pursue a writing and journalism career by seeing female journalists Connie Chung and Christiane Amanpour on TV.

Before my career at EDA, I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines. It was an immense honor to serve in the country where my mother was born. I’m currently a board member for the National Peace Corps Association.

For me, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is an opportunity to have discussions about my Filipino background. Since I don’t have a typical Asian surname, people don’t realize that my life has been strongly influenced by the values, culture, and traditions of the Philippines. Asia is a big and diverse continent, and the Asian identity looks different for many people. For example, I am bi-racial and the daughter of an immigrant, which means that my experience doesn’t always match that of other Asians or even Filipinos.

This month is a good opportunity to have discussions about our differences, but also create awareness about the issues impacting AAPI communities, such as the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes and the widening income gap between the wealthiest and poorest Asians Americans.

I hope everyone will continue – beyond this month – to learn more about AAPI people and communities and our value to the American culture and economy.

Ed. note: This post is part of the Spotlight on Commerce series highlighting the contributions of Department of Commerce employees during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

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Mary Owen-Thomas, Regional Public Affairs Specialist-Chicago, Economic Development Administration (EDA)

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Mary Owen-Thomas, Regional Public Affairs Specialist-Chicago, Economic Development Administration (EDA)

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Antidumping Duty Determinations on Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Russia and the United Arab Emirates

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Spotlight on Commerce: Theodora Meredith, Meteorologist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service

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Guest blog post by Theodora Meredith, Meteorologist, National Weather Service Office Pago Pago, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

I am a meteorologist at the Department of Commerce’s only National Weather Service office located in the southern hemisphere – the NOAA Weather Service Office Pago Pago, American Samoa. On a daily basis I communicate life-saving and impact-based weather information to my community, including warnings, advisories, outlooks and general forecasts, while ensuring that the information provided is accurate, precise, and timely. American Samoa is located in the tropics, surrounded by open waters and nearby trenches. We are prone to tsunamis, flash flooding, and hurricanes. My job is vital because my colleagues and I are the sentries for the territory, and provide critical forewarnings of impending hazards that could impact life and property. Doing so in a timely manner helps us to fulfill the National Weather Service mission of protecting life and property and sustain economic growth and sustainable development.

I was a student intern for the Weather Service Office Pago Pago from 2010 to 2012. I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and returned home in 2015. I was then blessed with the opportunity to work for the American Samoa Department of Homeland Security (ASDHS) as a Tsunami Project Coordinator and developed tsunami evacuation maps with core partners. Although I valued my work with ASDHS, my dream opportunity opened up and I came back to the Weather Service Office in Pago Pago in 2016 as a Meteorological Technician. Based on my experience with homeland security, I was able to build relationships with several government and private organizations, giving me an advantage in developing, producing, and delivering interpretive services in the form of Impact Based Decision Support Services (IDSS).

I was born and raised in American Samoa on the Island Tutuila. My Samoan culture has kept me involved in the community through church, village, and family duties. I currently serve as President for a mentoring program called the Esther Generation, as well as the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC). Through Esther Generation, I mentor young girls to strengthen their spiritual relationship with Christ and provide them with academic counseling so they can hopefully lead a better life for themselves and their families. I started the first FAPAC chapter in American Samoa to improve the Pacific Island’s representation in the council and in the nation. Pacific Islanders are an underrepresented population and I want to ensure that they have access to all the opportunities available at the federal level. The sky's the limit! In November 2020, I was awarded the FAPAC Leadership Award for establishing the local chapter to support the inclusion initiatives of FAPAC, NOAA and Pacific Islander federal employees in the American Samoa region.

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month highlights the AAPI community through celebrating our histories, cultures, and our ancestors who helped enrich America’s history. Though I believe this tribute should not be limited to one month, I am thankful that all races are acknowledged in the United States of America. What an honor to be a part of the greatest country in the world.

Ed. note: This post is part of the Spotlight on Commerce series highlighting the contributions of Department of Commerce employees during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Theodora Meredith, Meteorologist, National Weather Service

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Theodora Meredith, Meteorologist, National Weather Service

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Antidumping Duty Determinations on Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Russia and the United Arab Emirates

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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Addresses Economic Recovery and Need for Greater Equity and Opportunity for Women 

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo addressed the inaugural Finance Festival: Women and Wealth conference hosted by Ladies Get Paid and Public.com. During her pre-recorded discussion on April 29 with Ashley Louise, Co-Founder and CEO of Ladies Get Paid, Secretary Raimondo addressed the Biden Administration’s commitment to fix systemic inequities among women and minorities through the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan.

“Working for women at this moment in time is so important,” said Secretary Raimondo. “Women, especially women of color, have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. We need to provide them with jobs, training, affordable childcare and the necessary tools to re-enter the workforce.”

In his inaugural address to Congress, President Biden announced the American Families Plan, and called on them to make substantial investments in the infrastructure of care in our country. This plan will create a care economy and provide direct support to families to access affordable and high-quality childcare, create a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program, and extend child tax credits.

“There are millions of care workers who are full-time and still in poverty,” said Raimondo. "No matter how you slice it, that is wrong. The American Families Plan will provide a $400 billion investment to pay these workers livable wages and job training so they can climb the career ladder just like every other industry.”

Secretary Raimondo also called for Congress to pass the American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion jobs package that will allow our country to not just return to where we were before the pandemic but to build our country and economy back better.

“This Administration recognizes that women have been left behind and we are actively looking to fix systemic inequities,” she said. “Through the American Jobs Plan, we will take a robust approach to break down these barriers.”

During her discussion, Secretary Raimondo also noted that so many women have had to bear the brunt of the pandemic by leaving their jobs to care for an elderly parent. She noted that home care workers who take care of our elderly are usually women and that she could not have survived the pandemic in caring for her almost 90-year-old mother without “these angels.”

“We need to establish a workforce to take care of our elderly and our children,” she said. “These folks are the fabric of our community. I hope Congress does the right thing and passes both the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan.”

Secretary Raimondo also talked about her time as the first woman Governor of Rhode Island and her long-held core beliefs in hard work, the opportunity for all, and the importance of financial security for women.

“To create an economy where every woman can thrive, they must have a seat at the decision-making table demanding policies that have been swept to the side for too long.” I have dedicated my career to empowering people, particularly women and minority communities. That is what drives me in this job as Commerce Secretary.”

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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Addresses Economic Recovery and Need for Greater Equity and Opportunity for Women

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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Addresses Economic Recovery and Need for Greater Equity and Opportunity for Women

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U.S. Department of Commerce Releases Report on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth Through Deregulation

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Message from the 19th Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Don Graves 

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Hello everyone. My name is Don Graves, and I’m so excited to serve as Deputy Secretary of Commerce.

I come from a long line of small business owners, including ones who ran a horse and buggy taxi service on the land where the Department of Commerce sits today, and their son who owned and operated the only African American-owned hotel in the mid to late 1800s, just a few short blocks away. Throughout my life, I have had the good fortune of meeting Americans from all walks of life and geographies, pursuing dreams for themselves and their families.

But for far too many people, particularly people of color and those with limited means, a chance to attain their American dream or even start and grow a business is still too difficult. The COVID 19 pandemic has only heightened the inequities within our country.

My career, in government, the private sector, and nonprofits, has been dedicated to ensuring that economic opportunity is inclusive and broad-based, supporting working families and strengthening the communities in which they live.

At the Department of Commerce, our mission is rooted in helping American workers and businesses thrive, and I'm excited to serve as the 19th Deputy Secretary of Commerce. I will work closely with Secretary Raimondo to ensure that we not only build back better, but we build back equitably.

I want to take the opportunity to thank the staff at the Department of Commerce, who work tirelessly to serve the American people. The work they do is essential, and I'm honored to be serving alongside these extraordinary public servants.

I am reminded by President Biden that service is not about those of us who serve, but rather it is about the American People we serve.

We must continue to revive the economy and advance racial equity and combat systemic racism across the board, as we meet the existential threat of climate change with American Jobs and Ingenuity.

And we must remain committed to spending the time to really understand what they are going through, to learn of their hopes and dreams, and to know they aren't looking for us to solve everything, but to level the playing field here and across the globe and provide the opportunities they need to succeed and live lives of dignity and respect.

That’s the charge of the President and this entire Administration – to work for all of you.

Advancing the critical work that lies ahead requires the hard work of all of us, and as the 19th Deputy Secretary of Commerce, I'm ready to get to work!

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Spotlight on Commerce: MiYong Kim, Operating Committee Chair, Bureau of Industry and Security

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Guest blog post by MiYong Kim, Operating Committee Chair, Bureau of Industry and Security

I am the Chair of the Operating Committee (OC) at the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).  In that role, I chair the interagency body that resolves contentious license applications related to munitions parts and components and exports of dual-use items including commodity, technology, and software that are commercial in nature but can have military applications. The mission of BIS is to advance U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic objectives by ensuring an effective export control and treaty compliance system and promoting continued U.S. strategic technology leadership.

The OC is made up of representatives from Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, and State and meets regularly to discuss and, to an extent, negotiate the outcome of license applications. If the interagency committee is not able to come to a consensus, I determine the outcome of the applications as chair of the group.  The OC Chair position is quite unique.  I am a member of the BIS staff; however, my decision-making authority is independent of BIS and must remain impartial.

The thing that I like the best about my job is that I get to be an honest broker.  I am not advocating a particular outcome.  Rather, the job is to apply the regulations and interagency agreed-upon policy to the facts of a case.  It is similar to the responsibilities of an administrative law judge. While this position job does not require a law degree, I have found my legal background to be incredibly beneficial to understanding the issues discussed and decided upon by the committee.

I grew up in Delaware.  I graduated from the University of Delaware and Catholic Law School in Washington, D.C.  A few years ago, I had the privilege of attending National Defense University (NDU) as a BIS employee, obtaining a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy. That was truly an eye-opening experience in how the U.S. military operates. My favorite class at NDU was war strategy.

The work BIS does is really important for the well-being of both private companies and national security. Every day, my colleagues and I weigh the approval of exports against the potential risk to our national security, or the denial of certain exports that may be a potential detriment to U.S. economic well-being and growth. BIS has a great responsibility to ensure that economic impact is considered in U.S. Government decision-making in the export control area.  BIS does its best to bring out these issues during interagency discussion and are sometimes the lone voice on behalf of U.S. businesses. BIS is a constant reminder that economic security is national security.

The past couple of years have been tough for Asian Americans. This year as we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I hope people will truly listen and make efforts to be better allies to all Americans. I look forward to a day when all Americans feel we belong in our country rather than feeling like perpetual foreigners in our country.  #StopAAPIHate

Ed. note: This post is part of the Spotlight on Commerce series highlighting the contributions of Department of Commerce employees during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

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MiYong Kim, Operating Committee Chair, Bureau of Industry and Security

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MiYong Kim, Operating Committee Chair, Bureau of Industry and Security

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Antidumping Duty Determinations on Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Russia and the United Arab Emirates

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Spotlight on Commerce: Thomas Choi, International Program Specialist, Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP)

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Guest blog post by Thomas Choi, International Program Specialist, Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP)

I am humbled to write a blog post in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and to share my story, especially now, when this month is more important than ever. My name is Thomas Jungwoo Choi, and I serve as an International Program Specialist for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP). I work on the Central Asian team and cover regional and bilateral relationships with the governments of Central Asia on customs, procurement, and issues on women’s economic empowerment. CLDP provides technical assistance to help develop the legal infrastructure to support domestic and international businesses. I was lucky enough to join the team in August 2020 after being evacuated from Ukraine, cutting my Peace Corps service short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although I have only worked virtually over the past 8 months, I have had the pleasure of working alongside a group of diverse and dedicated individuals from all reaches of the world.

I graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Chicago. After a brief stint working in finance in New York City, I decided to become a Peace Corps Volunteer as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Advisor in eastern Ukraine, where I worked with government officials, businesses, and civil society organizations to promote local and regional economic development through entrepreneurship, tourism, and civic engagement. While there, one of my most memorable experiences was interacting with ethnic Koreans in Ukraine whose families had been deported decades ago from the Russian Far East. It was a surreal experience tracing back our roots, using a mix of English, Ukrainian, Russian, and Korean to discover that our families had come from neighboring cities of North Korea. My grandparents had been forced to flee their homes during the Korean War and had been lucky enough to find themselves in Seoul, eventually giving my family and I the opportunity to move to the U.S.

When I returned to New York a year ago, I had found myself in a country further divided due to the pandemic, with a large rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. I was born in South Korea and moved to the United States when I was six years old. I relocated to a new city across the U.S. every few years of my life, from the sunny beaches of Los Angeles to the snowy city of Boston. I grew up trying to adapt as much as possible. As a first-generation American, I experienced feelings of insecurity and self-doubt, adopting an English name to avoid explaining how to pronounce my given name. I struggled with my identity and attempted to hide any parts of my Korean heritage to the point where people were shocked to know I spoke Korean at home or at all. I worked hard to blend in, falling into the myth of being a model minority.

As I further reconcile what it means to be a Korean American, joining CLDP has been one of the first times that this part of my life has been valued alongside my love of foreign languages and cultures. I am grateful to work with such wonderful colleagues who inspire me to work harder while embracing my heritage. I am thankful to all those that have come before me and worked hard to give me the privilege to have come this far. And I am honored to be able to work at Commerce, where I can do the same for others in nations around the world.

Ed. note: This post is part of the Spotlight on Commerce series highlighting the contributions of Department of Commerce employees during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

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Thomas Choi, International Program Specialist, Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP)

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Thomas Choi, International Program Specialist, Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP)

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Antidumping Duty Determinations on Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Russia and the United Arab Emirates

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CALL FOR: 2021 Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental Ambassador Nominations

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The Department of Commerce is calling for nominations for the fourth annual Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental (SEE) Ambassadors program.  The SEE Ambassadors program recognizes individual Departmental employees for outstanding performance in implementing exceptional projects or programs helping the Department meet sustainability, energy and water reduction, clean energy, climate change adaptation, resilience, or environmental performance goals.

Who is eligible?
This recognition program is independent of the Department’s Annual Energy and Environmental Stewardship Awards and is offered as an alternative way to highlight individual achievements of Department of Commerce employees. The SEE Ambassadors program is not currently offered to contractors. The Department will make selections for recognition when the individual has gone above and beyond typical day-to-day responsibilities to help achieve mission success, including staff who may not otherwise receive such recognition through the Departmental or the Federal awards program.

Nomination details
The Office of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Programs (OSEEP) is now accepting nominations for accomplishments that occurred between October 1, 2020, through July 30, 2021.  Nominations for the 2021 recognition program are due by July 30, 2021, and must highlight the efforts of one individual, not a team.  To nominate a Departmental employee for this special recognition, download the form and send it to Sarah Yardley at syardley@doc.gov by July 30, 2021.

Special recognition
The 2021 SEE Ambassador awardees will be announced in August and will receive a certificate honoring their commitment to sustainability, energy and water reduction, clean energy, climate change adaptation, resilience, or environmental performance from the Director of the Office of Facilities and Environmental Quality (OFEQ).  In addition, the awardees will be featured in OSEEP’s newsletter and a Commerce-wide broadcast email.

Download the SEE Ambassadors Nomination Form

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CALL FOR: 2021 Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental Ambassador Nominations

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CALL FOR: 2021 Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental Ambassador Nominations

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Spotlight on Commerce: Ava Jamerson, International Trade Specialist, International Trade Administration

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Guest blog post by Ava Jamerson, International Trade Specialist, International Trade Administration

I am an International Trade Specialist and professional communicator in the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration’s Enforcement and Compliance (E&C) unit. In this role, I help U.S. industries, media and the public understand the work we do to support a free, fair, and rules-based system of trade that protects American workers and businesses. Working in E&C’s communications office is extremely rewarding because I get a birds-eye-view of the entire business unit’s daily operations, and the great variety of work I do makes every day fresh and exciting.

I want to share my story of growing up Asian American with a twist. Born in Oregon, I was whisked away to China within the first two weeks, where I spent five years of my life before being towed around the world by my State Department parents. From a young age, I felt that I didn’t fit in. I am half-Chinese and half African American but being “Blasian” (Black and Asian) comes with its own unique set of experiences. At the market in China, vendors would call my Chinese mom a nanny, while pointing at me whispering “wai guo ren,” or “outsider.” In other countries, I was called an “American” while my more “Asian-looking” friends were called “Chino.” Even back in the states, people are not very quick to realize that I am Asian. At first, I struggled with feelings of belonging, but my life abroad has blessed me with a broader perspective as I absorbed cultures from around the world and met inspiring people from extremely diverse backgrounds. It taught me that although the brain is hardwired to depend on labels and biases, we need to question and challenge our subconscious, and sometimes override our preconceptions.

Despite struggling with the disconnect when I was younger, not “looking” Chinese has been a blessing that taught me that being Asian is all about what’s on the inside. Some of my favorite memories in Dalian include catching cicadas with my cousin on a hot  summer day, watching my nimble-fingered aunts pinch pillowy dumplings at New Years, and sitting on plastic stools in the street to eat a breakfast of deep-fried dough and soymilk. These all became formative experiences of what being Chinese means to me. The same memories later pushed me to learn even more. Right before graduating from high school in Mexico, I moved back to the U.S. just in time to experience one year of public school and, in 2014, I enrolled in the University of Oregon’s Chinese Flagship Program. The following year, I attended a summer language program hosted by Princeton, and later received the Boren scholarship to fund a full year of study and work abroad in China in 2016. After graduation, I was naturally drawn to public service because I watched how the government gives hardworking and kind people like my parents the opportunity to build relationships with people all over the world while also representing something bigger than themselves. To me, Asian American Pacific Islander month is all about recognizing how being Chinese plays a big role in my life and sharing my culture with others.

The lessons I’ve learned surrounding the Asian identity are especially prevalent right now. Recent high-profile race-based hate crimes have spurred much-needed conversations about the aggressions that minorities face on a daily basis. It hits even closer to home to know that even the older generation is targeted, and folks like my mom, uncles, and aunts, are being harassed based on their heritage. It is deeply saddening that fear and ignorance can be so damaging, when my global exposure has shown me firsthand the commonalities, we have between each other. None of us is going to solve racism in a day, but one first step that we can all take is to focus on changing ourselves and the people around us. The key takeaway is to take on the world with an open mind and ask the people who surround you to do the same. As for the young people out there, visibility is everything. Having diverse representation in the federal government is important because it gives minority groups the opportunity to amplify their voices and shape America into a country that is institutionally inclusive and fair for everyone.

Ed. note: This post is part of the Spotlight on Commerce series highlighting the contributions of Department of Commerce employees during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

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Ava Jamerson, International Trade Specialist, International Trade Administration

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Ava Jamerson, International Trade Specialist, International Trade Administration

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Antidumping Duty Determinations on Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Russia and the United Arab Emirates

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Spotlight on Commerce: Hannah Wang, Primary Patent Examiner, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

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Guest blog post by Hannah Wang, Primary Patent Examiner, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

As a primary patent examiner at the Commerce Department's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), I handle patent applications in the area of computer networking. In addition, I have the privilege of currently serving as president of the Asian Pacific American Network (APANET), one of the largest affinity groups across the federal government. I also recently became a co-host of our workgroup’s Quality Enhancement Meetings (QEM). These QEMs provide patent examiners with the opportunity to learn about various topics and bring up any questions related to patent examining.

During my undergraduate studies in China, I pursued a major in Electrical Engineering, focusing on circuits and signal processing. In 2007, I moved to the United States to pursue my master’s degree at George Washington University, focusing on communication networks. Afterward, I attended Cornell University and earned a master’s degree in engineering management. At the time, I wanted to prepare myself for a career in consulting. However, life always has a way of surprising you. I happened to take a job as a patent analyst at a patent firm. That job opened my eyes to the patent field and changed my career path. I discovered my passion for a field that perfectly integrated my engineering expertise with innovation and law. When the opportunity arose, I decided to join the USPTO in 2016 to further pursue this passion. Today I am proud to be part of an amazing agency that serves as the backbone of American innovation.

Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month is a perfect time to reflect on how far the AANHPI community has come and to celebrate the AANHPI community’s integral role in our Nation’s accomplishments and developments. During this month, we are not only reminded of the sacrifices and hardships experienced by past generations, but also to cherish the valuable equality and opportunities we have today. These reflections motivate us to continue working diligently and to provide an even better foundation for future generations. As a first-generation immigrant, it is very special to have my culture recognized, shared, and celebrated with so many people across the Commerce Department and the country. During this Covid-19 pandemic, it is especially important to raise awareness, promote diversity, and offer support to our AANHPI community.

The strength of the USPTO’s AANHPI community is reflected in the growth of APANET throughout the years. I am extremely proud that APANET has grown from 10 members when it was created to more than 800 members today. APANET hosts annual events every year for our members and USPTO employees. Events include our Lunar New Year celebration, AANHPI Heritage Month celebration, dragon boat races, and Diwali celebration, to name a few. Serving as the president of APANET provides me with many opportunities to collaborate with colleagues and coordinate events outside of patent examining. I am truly grateful that I can grow with APANET, provide help and services to others, and learn how to become an effective leader.

As a career civil servant at the USPTO, my job helps foster an environment that creates economic growth and opportunity. I can’t think of anything more impactful than protecting and expanding innovation in the U.S. through intellectual property. It helps create new jobs for Americans and advance our nation. My advice for those interested in a federal career is to not be afraid of exploring new things and changing original plans. As we explore, we discover new interests and develop new skills. Although this can mean deviating from our original plan, it can also lead to an even more suitable career path. The federal government offers a variety of opportunities that are a good fit for talented and hard-working individuals. Being willing to explore these opportunities will help you find your passions, talents, and a successful career path.

Ed. note: This post is part of the Spotlight on Commerce series highlighting the contributions of Department of Commerce employees during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

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Hannah Wang, Primary Patent Examiner, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

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Hannah Wang, Primary Patent Examiner, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Antidumping Duty Determinations on Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Russia and the United Arab Emirates

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Recognizing AANHPI Heritage Month: Commerce Department Offers Valuable Resources and Services for Entrepreneurs and Minority and Women-Owned Businesses

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This year as we celebrate Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, we must first recognize the rise of hate crimes on the AANHPI community faced this past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commerce Department continues to support the  Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to end this violence and root out systemic barriers to economic justice, health equity, educational attainment, and personal safety. We are proud of the AANHPI community’s perseverance and resiliency, and we continue to stand with them in solidarity.

The AANHPI community is deeply rooted in the history of the United States and are an integral part of the rich fabric of our nation. As the voice of business, the Commerce Department works every day to support and invest in the AAPI business community to create jobs and promote economic growth.

Over our Nation’s history, the AANHPI business community has consistently provided invaluable contributions that enrich America’s culture and society. Asian American-owned employer firms account for over 40% of all minority-owned employer firms in the U.S., create 4.6 million jobs per year and contribute over 58% of the $1.4 Trillion in revenue generated by all U.S. minority-owned firms.

Many Commerce Department agencies offer a wide range of services to help U.S.-based companies, entrepreneurs, innovators, and minority and women-owned businesses compete and be successful while strengthening the United States’ role as a global leader.

Below are a list of services and resources ranging from data solutions, export solutions, intellectual property, and minority business growth.

The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is the only federal agency solely dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of minority business enterprises. Minority-owned firms seeking to penetrate new markets — domestic & global — and growing in size and scale, can access business experts at a MBDA Business Center. Whether it’s securing capital, competing for a contract, identifying a strategic partner, or becoming export-ready, your success is our priority. The Centers are in areas with the largest concentration of minority populations and the largest number of minority businesses.

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts various economic and business surveys and produces valuable data for businesses including detailed statistics that are essential to help small businesses succeed and grow. The U.S Census Bureau also offers the Census Business Builder (CBB), a suite of services that provide selected demographic and economic data from the Census Bureau tailored to specific types of users in a simple to access and use format. In particular, they offer the Small Business Edition for small business owners who need key data for their business plan or to better understand their potential market.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) provides resources and customized services for businesses currently participating in exporting and services to businesses that are new to exporting that include online resources in planning an export strategy, choosing the best markets for your product, and evaluating potential foreign business partners in advance.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers a hub for resources and information for inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. Through this hub, they offer access to a variety of products and services including how to protect your idea or product, how to search existing patents and trademarks and how to apply for a patent or trademark.

The Office of Space Commerce was established to help U.S. businesses use the unique medium of space to benefit our economy. They offer a one-stop shop of resources for entrepreneurs and small businesses to discover opportunities to partner with the federal government, conducting research, technology development, testing, and applying for grants.

Commerce Grants and Funding Opportunities: Various Commerce agencies offer grant and Federal contracting opportunities, including resources for contractors through the Office of Small and Disadvantage Business Utilization (OSDBU and grant opportunities at all Commerce bureaus, including the Economic Development Administration (EDA), International Trade Administration (ITA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Other Federal government tools and resources for businesses, entrepreneurs and minority and women-owned businesses can be found at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

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Graphic of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Businesses 

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Graphic of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Businesses 

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Fostering Innovation, Creating Jobs, Driving Better Decisions: The Value of Government Data

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Spotlight on Commerce: Jennifer Kim, Assistant Division Chief, Decennial Census Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau

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Guest blog post by Jennifer Kim, Assistant Division Chief, Decennial Census Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau

I am honored to serve as the Assistant Division Chief for Content, Translation, Puerto Rico, and Island Areas Operations in the Decennial Census Management Division of the Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau. In this role, I manage several operations within the Decennial Census Programs. This includes census questionnaire content and forms design, language operations, translation services, and census operations in the U.S. territories.

The decennial census provides a snapshot of our nation every 10 years. It is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and is a count of everyone residing in the United States, which includes the 50 states, District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Census data are used to determine apportionment, draw congressional and state legislative districts and inform how federal funds are distributed to states and communities each year. It is crucial that we conduct a complete and accurate count and identify ways to help reduce barriers to enumeration.

For the 2020 Census, our team worked to ensure the census questionnaire and materials were accurate, consistent, and easy to understand. We created census materials in 59 non-English languages to help non-English-speaking households respond to the census. We created a translation office to make certain that the non-English materials were accurate, culturally relevant, and meaningful. Our team also deployed to American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to conduct the Island Areas Censuses in partnership with the local governments. This was to ensure we had the most complete and accurate count of everyone residing in the U.S. territories.

What I have enjoyed the most about my 14-year career at the Census Bureau is that I have been afforded the opportunity to apply both my academic and life experiences to my work in ways that I could have never imagined. I am a Korean-born American who immigrated to the United States at the age of eight. My academic background includes a BA degree in Linguistics from the University of Michigan, an MS degree from University of Southern California, and a PhD in International Education Policy from the University of Maryland. I have always been a proponent of providing access and equitable distribution of information and services, especially to hard-to-reach communities. Being able to lead the 2020 Census team that serves the non-English-speaking communities and the Island Area population has been a true honor and the highlight of my career.

As we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I cannot help but to reflect on the incredible contributions and accomplishments of my fellow Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) colleagues. We have not only led with our skills and talents but have also made lasting contributions that reflect our strong convictions of who we are and the resilience that encompasses the AAPI community. I am grateful for those who have come before us to pave the road to today – AAPI individuals and allies – and I anticipate that we too will help open doors for the emerging generation. Happy AAPI Heritage Month!

Ed. note: This post is part of the Spotlight on Commerce series highlighting the contributions of Department of Commerce employees during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

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Jennifer Kim, Assistant Division Chief, Decennial Census Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau

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Jennifer Kim, Assistant Division Chief, Decennial Census Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Antidumping Duty Determinations on Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Russia and the United Arab Emirates

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Inventors, Physicists and Entrepreneurs: Commerce Home to Diverse-Range of AANHPI Pioneers

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The Department of Commerce is proud to join the Nation in recognizing the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, also known as Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Observed annually in May, AANHPI Heritage Month is a time to reflect upon and celebrate the remarkable role of the AANHPI community in our Nation’s history. It also is a time to recognize all the many contributions and achievements within the AAHNPI community that have had a positive impact on our Nation.

There are so many rich achievements and this month is a celebration of the accomplishments of the AANHPI community. Below are a few leaders who, through their innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship, have made a significant contribution to the Commerce Department’s mission to drive business expansion and economic growth and accelerate American leadership in research, invention, and innovation.

NIST PHYSICIST AND PIONEER IN PRACTICAL NEW TECHNOLOGIES JUNE YE

NIST Physicist and Pioneer in Practical New Technologies June Ye

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June Ye, a fellow at Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was born in China, is a pioneer in laser science and technology, next-generation atomic clocks, and ultracold quantum gases, all of which serve as foundations for practical new technologies. Ye invented world-leading experimental atomic clocks based on strontium atoms as candidates for the future redefinition of the international standard of time, the SI second. He is a leader in the development of laser frequency combs, ultraprecise “rulers of light,” now used for everything from improving the world’s best atomic clocks to detecting greenhouse gases to identifying planets orbiting distant stars. Ye has also opened new directions and achieved numerous firsts in research on ultracold gases of molecules and chemical reactions at just billionths of a degree above absolute zero, advances that may help scientists develop new materials and new tools for precision measurements and quantum computing.

Ye leads a large and diverse group at JILA, a joint research institute run by NIST and the University of Colorado Boulder. He has been recognized with multiple international scientific awards, including election to the National Academy of Sciences, four Department of Commerce Gold Medals, the Presidential Rank Award, the Meggers Award of the Optical Society of America, the I.I. Rabi Award by the IEEE Frequency Control Symposium, and the American Physical Society’s Norman F. Ramsey Prize and I.I. Rabi Prize. He holds four patents based on unique laser technologies and has published 380 refereed research publications, more than 100 of them in the most prestigious international journals for physics, including Science, Nature, and Physical Review Letters. His work has been cited more than 50,000 times — an exceptionally large number for physicists — and he has presented more than 600 invited talks across the world, including one presented during the international event to redefine the kilogram.

ENTREPRENEUR AND LEADING U.S. SUPPLIER OF NUT PRODUCTS JACK HUANG

Entrepreneur and Leading U.S. Supplier of Nut Products Jack Huang

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For over 50 years, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) has provided invaluable tools and assistance to thousands of U.S.-based minority-owned businesses and entrepreneurs in becoming successful business and industry leaders. One such person is Jack Huang, President, and CEO of Calway Foods, Inc. headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Since 2008, Calway has exported safe and high-quality nut products, including pecans, walnuts, pistachio, almonds, and other agricultural products, to Hong Kong and China.

Before founding Calway Foods, Mr. Huang held several key positions with several commercial banks, including Cathay Bank, Heritage Bank and First Bank & Trust. His initiation into entrepreneurship began after he was approached by a banking customer who was selling pecans to China but did not speak Mandarin. It was then that Mr. Huang decided to start his firm. With assistance of the Commerce Department’s MBDA Export Center in Sacramento, Calway Foods, Inc. is now recognized as one of the leading suppliers of premium nut products from the United States. This video captures the journey of Mr. Huang and Calway Foods, Inc.

MBDA Export Centers help minority-owned enterprises (MBEs) succeed as exporters and has assisted hundreds of MBEs grow their business by gaining access to new international markets, trade financing, and export contracts.

LEADING INVENTOR IN ACCESSIBILITY TECHNOLOGY CHIEKO ASAKAWA

Leading Inventor in Accessibility Technology Chieko Asakawa

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The mission of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is to foster innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth, domestically and abroad, by providing high quality and timely examination of patent and trademark applications, guiding domestic and international intellectual property (IP) policy, and delivering IP information and education worldwide.

Blind since the age of 14, Chieko Asakawa is a leading innovator in accessibility technology, and her inventions have helped change how visually disabled individuals communicate and interact.  She invented the Home Page Reader (HPR), the first practical voice browser to provide effective Internet access for blind and visually impaired computer users. Designed to enable users to surf the Internet and navigate Web pages through a computer’s numeric keypad instead of a mouse, HPR debuted in 1997; by 2003, it was widely used around the world. Asakawa was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2019.  She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Achievement Award from the Society of Women Engineers, and holds more than 20 patents.

Commerce Department is committed to supporting the groundbreaking work of inventors, and companies creating the new solutions needed to overcome the pandemic and other global challenges of the future.

HUMANITARIAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL INVENTOR ALICE MIN SOO CHUN

Humanitarian and Environmental Inventor Alice Min Soo Chun.

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Alice Min Soo Chun is the CEO and Founder of Solight Design and SEEUS95 Inc. Chun invented the first self-attaching transparent N95 mask, the SEEUS95, to reduce the irritation PPE masks can cause wearers and limit their environmental impact. The mask is made from all-natural and environmentally safer materials including bamboo, carbon, silver, silk, silicone and chitosan, a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer created using the hard, outer skeleton of shellfish. The mask was designed with thousands of front-line workers in mind--including first responders and health care workers--as a protective device against the COVID-19 virus and other contagions.

Chun also invented the SolarPuff, a portable solar light providing individualized access to solar energy. Access to light during the night affects 2.6 billion people without reliable electricity. Displaced people are particularly affected, with nighttime attacks a danger in refugee or disaster relief camps, especially for women and children. Chun designed an ultra-lightweight, portable solar lamp that could be distributed to people living in relief camps and carried with them as they change locations.

In 2018, SolarPuff won the USPTO’s Patents for Humanity Award. This program rewards and recognizes the strength that human ingenuity can bring to solving humanity’s most pressing problems. Launched in February 2012, the Patents for Humanity Award is the USPTO’s top honor for patent applicants devising game-changing innovations to address long-standing development challenges. The program provides business incentives for reaching those in need: winners receive an acceleration certificate to expedite select proceedings at the USPTO, as well as public recognition of their work. The awards showcase how inventors with vision like Alice Min Soo Chun are pioneering innovative ways to provide affordable, scalable, and sustainable solutions for the less fortunate. Their success stories will inspire others to harness innovation for human progress.

The AANHPI community is made up of culturally and linguistically - diverse people, representing populations from many countries and islands. Read President Biden’s proclamation to the Nation honoring the history and achievements of Asian American and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders.

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National Institute of Standards and Technology

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Inventors, Physicists and Entrepreneurs: Commerce Home to Diverse-Range of AANHPI Pioneers

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Inventors, Physicists and Entrepreneurs: Commerce Home to Diverse-Range of AANHPI Pioneers

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Readout of Secretary Ross’s Meetings with Chinese Officials During East Asia Travel

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Nominations Open for 2021 National Minority Enterprise Development Week Awards

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The U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is currently accepting nominations for their 2021 National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week Awards. These prestigious honors are presented during MBDA’s National Minority Enterprise Development Week—September 12-18, 2021—and celebrate the outstanding achievements of minority entrepreneurs, as well as individuals and organizations demonstrating outstanding commitments as advocates for the minority business community.

The MBDA National MED Week Awards are the highest level of national recognition a U.S. minority-owned firm can receive by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Awards are presented in three primary groups, each with multiple award categories:

Minority Firms of the Year | 9 industry-specific awards

Champions of Business Development | 3 awards

Individual Recognition | 2 awards

MBDA encourages nominations from chambers of commerce, business and trade associations, prime contractors, federal, state and local government agencies, and individual business owners. Self-nominations are also welcomed. Award categories, qualification criteria, and nomination submission instructions are available on MBDA’s website, http://www.mbda.gov. Nominations for the 2021 MBDA National MED Week Awards must be received by June 15, 2021.

The 2021 MED Week award winners are scheduled to be announced in September, with honorees receiving their awards during the National MED Week Conference.

This year, President Joe Biden will issue a proclamation declaring September 12-18, 2021 as National Minority Enterprise Week to coincide with MBDA’s 2021 National MED Week. This declaration will even further elevate the visibility of minority businesses and amplify the importance of the economic and social contributions minority entrepreneurs make in communities across our Nation.

The MED Week Conference, presented again this year in a virtual format, centers around the theme of “Reimaging Opportunity” with programming showcasing the endless possibilities ahead for the minority business community. A variety of sponsorship packages for MBDA’s 2021 National MED Week Conference and Awards are available, offering a range of high-visibility options to demonstrate support for minority businesses and economic inclusion.

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2021 Call for Nominations for Minority Enterprise Development Week Awards is Now Open

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2021 Call for Nominations for Minority Enterprise Development Week Awards is Now Open

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Trade with China Continues Trend While Comprehensive Economic Dialogue Hopes to Balance Deficits

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Help Us Find the Next National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureates

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Blog post by Drew Hirshfeld, performing the functions and duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

From the personal computer to satellite technology, the last few decades of technological innovation have dramatically changed the way we live our lives. Those changes would not have been possible without the amazing inventors behind them – women and men who inspire us all with their spirit of ingenuity and perseverance. That’s why we are immensely proud to administer the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI), our nation’s highest honor in technological achievement, which recognizes these often unsung heroes.

Awarded by the President of the United States, the NMTI is given to individuals, teams, and companies that have made lasting contributions to America's competitiveness, standard of living, and quality of life through technological innovation. We are currently soliciting nominations from the public for this high honor, and we invite a wide range of submissions for recipients of the NMTI – called Laureates – that represent the diversity and ingenuity of our incredible innovation ecosystem from all corners of the United States.

If you know of a person or team who you feel has changed the technological landscape through their discoveries and achievements, we want to know! Submissions are being accepted on the NMTI page of the USPTO website through July 30.

By highlighting the importance and achievements of NMTI Laureates, the Medal is also meant to inspire future generations of Americans to prepare for and pursue technical careers. Since the Medal’s inception in 1980, only 220 people have been awarded this prestigious recognition. Here are just a few of their stories.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were among the first class of Laureates in 1985. Their development of the personal computer revolutionized the world, bringing the power of computing technology into people’s homes. Relying on Jobs’ marketing and design skills and Wozniak’s engineering insights, the pair co-founded Apple Computers in 1976. Today, Apple remains an international, multibillion-dollar company.

Helen Edwards was the first woman to receive the NMTI. She was awarded the Medal in 1989 for overseeing the design, construction, and operation of the TEVATRON particle accelerator. This amazing piece of equipment explored the fundamental properties of matter. It allowed experiments that could previously only be theorized, by accelerating beams of protons and antiprotons to approximately the speed of light around a four-mile circumference. It was the most powerful particle accelerator in the world for 25 years.

Irwin Jacobs, co-founder of Qualcomm, received the NMTI in 1994 for taking a military technology called Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and transforming it into 3G cellular and wireless networks. 3G allows multiple conversations to share the same frequencies simultaneously. This, in turn, allowed for more customers and fewer cellphone towers—and made wireless technology more affordable.

James West received the NMTI in 2006 for co-inventing the foil electret microphone, which is used in phones, computers, hearing aids, and many other devices. Over two billion electret microphones are currently produced every year. After working at Bell Labs for 40 years, West is still inventing as a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University. He is also a lifelong advocate for increasing diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math fields.

Yvonne Brill received the NMTI in 2010 for inventing a rocket propulsion system to keep communications satellites in their orbits—a remarkable achievement for a woman who was not allowed to major in engineering in college and chose to major in chemistry and mathematics instead. Brill is believed to be the only woman in the United States who was working in rocket science in the mid-1940s. She advocated for women in engineering and science throughout her career.

We are honored to celebrate the best minds in American innovation whose creations have improved our world and kept the United States at the forefront of global technology and economic leadership. For more information on the NMTI and the award process, attend the webinar on June 2, sign up for the USPTO Awards newsletter, or contact us at nmti@uspto.gov.

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National Medal of Technology and Innovation (Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO)

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National Medal of Technology and Innovation (Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO)

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America’s Strong Marine Economy Vital to Building Back Better

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America’s marine economy contributed about $397 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2019 and grew faster than the nation’s economy as a whole, according to the most current results of the first official Marine Economy Satellite Account released today by two Department of Commerce agencies.

“America’s strong marine economy is absolutely vital for building back better,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “President Biden sees the immense value and potential of strengthening America’s blue economy, and this administration will continue to take actions to combat the climate crisis, conserve our oceans, and protect our coastal communities.”

“These statistics show how powerful America’s blue economy is as a driver of jobs, innovation and economic growth,” said Ben Friedman, acting NOAA administrator. “This information will assist our nation’s economic recovery by helping policymakers, industry advocates, and organizations track and accelerate investments in target markets.”

For these statistics, experts from NOAA and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) described 10 sectors representing businesses dependent on the nation’s oceans, coasts and Great Lakes between the years 2014 and 2019. Marine-related gross domestic product grew 4.2% from 2018 to 2019, faster than the 2.2% growth of the total U.S. gross domestic product as measured in inflation-adjusted dollars. Businesses included in the report also generated a total of $665.7 billion in sales and supported 2.4 million jobs in 2019.

The 10 sectors ranked by their sales are:

Tourism and recreation, including recreational fishing ($235 billion)

National defense and public administration ($180 billion)

Offshore minerals ($93 billion)

Transportation and warehousing ($64 billion)

Commercial Ship and boat building ($31 billion)

Living resources, including commercial fishing and aquaculture ($27 billion)

Utilities ($12 billion)

Research and education ($10.4 billion)

Construction ($7.0 billion)

Professional and technical services ($6.3 billion)

“These statistics are further proof that our waters are vital for America’s economy,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, acting director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “It is nearly impossible to go a single day without eating, wearing, or using items that come from or through our ports and coastal communities.”

Last year, NOAA and BEA released the Ocean Economy Prototype statistics which covered 2014-2018 and were the most comprehensive measurement of the marine economy at the time. This year’s statistics offer improved national estimates for ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes-related economic activity by major sector, accounting for inflation. The data, report and other materials are available at Marine Economy | US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and on NOAA’s Digital Coast website. Send any comments or questions to MarineEconomy@noaa.gov.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Cargo ship safely entering the port of Miami in Florida. (NOAA)

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Cargo ship safely entering the port of Miami in Florida. 

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Residential Propane Price Analysis 2006 

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Juneteenth: My Story and Black America’s Ongoing Pursuit toward Progress 

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As we reflect on Juneteenth and celebrate the anniversary of the final emancipation of the last slaves in this country some two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, I am reminded that though the physical chains of slavery were broken, the invisible chains of systemic racism have continued to hinder Black Americans' progress to this day.

From voting rights to the criminal justice system, and from income and employment disparities to inadequacies in access to capital, we continue to see the strains that pull at the fabric of the African American community. And in this moment of celebration and remembrance, we must also be bold in confronting the systemic challenges that continue to have a hold on the Black community, while also keeping a firm eye on our history to help guide us.

For me, that has meant looking to my ancestors and their experiences to help ground me with every decision I make. Their story is my story, but it is also the story of this Department and this nation.

My great-great-grandmother, Mary Anna Ringgold Wormley, was freed from slavery nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation following the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act by President Lincoln, which freed slaves in the District of Columbia. Her husband, James T. Wormley, became the very first graduate of Howard University, which today is a partner with many parts of the Commerce Department, including NOAA and the Minority Business Development Agency.

My four-times great grandparents, also former slaves, built a successful horse and buggy taxi business in Washington that once stood at the site of the Commerce Department's headquarters. Their son, also an entrepreneur, went on to become one of our nation's first Black patent-holders through Commerce's U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

When I was sworn in on May 14th as the 19th Deputy Secretary of Commerce, my hand was on a family copy of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution signed by President Lincoln and more than 150 members of Congress gifted to my three-times great-grandfather by his friend, U.S. Senator Charles Sumner, and passed down through my family for generations. That document and the Emancipation Proclamation that preceded it ended and abolished slavery but didn’t end the systemic racism that continues to exist within our country.

For far too many Americans, particularly for Black Americans, their hopes and dreams, ideas and innovations, hard work and perseverance haven’t been enough.  The very structure and systems our forebears created to promote the general welfare have oftentimes held our citizens back.  That has meant our nation as a whole has never lived up to its potential.  Our efforts to be a more inclusive and equitable nation are not just a moral imperative, but an economic one as well.  As the Kellogg Foundation has found, if we close the yawning racial gap in incomes of Americans, we will increase our national GDP by a massive $8 trillion by 2050.

President Biden has always cared deeply about issues affecting the Black community. And by taking the step to officially make Juneteenth a federal holiday, he has acknowledged our collective history and begun the process to tackle the systemic challenges in front of us. And the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to taking significantly more action to reinvest in people and communities that have been left behind by failed policies of the past.

President Biden announced new actions to build Black wealth and narrow the racial wealth gap by creating jobs and economic opportunity. Through this initiative, the Administration is expanding access to two key wealth-creators – homeownership and small business ownership – in communities of color and disadvantaged communities. Specifically, this plan will create an innovative grant program through the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) that will help minority-owned manufacturers access private capital.

As the voice of business and American workers, the Commerce Department works every day to support and invest in the business community to create jobs and promote economic growth. But Commerce is also the Department of data and science and global trade.  Whether it is finding ways to support those who have new ideas and innovations but have historically had difficulty taking their ideas to the global marketplace with patent and trademark protection, or looking at climatological data and thinking about the ways investment decisions can be more environmentally just, the Commerce Department is looking at all of its tools to make our economy and communities more inclusive and to develop policies that will have a real impact on communities of color.

So, on this first federally recognized Juneteenth, let us celebrate, but let us keep using our history to not forget the significant and difficult work ahead.

-- Don Graves, Jr., 19th Deputy Secretary of Commerce

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Don Graves, Jr., 19th Deputy Secretary of Commerce Swearing-in Ceremony

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Don Graves, Jr., 19th Deputy Secretary of Commerce Swearing-in Ceremony

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo Joins President Biden at U.S.-EU Summit and Advances Tech and Trade Issues with European Union and Private Sector Leaders

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On June 14-16, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo joined President Biden, Secretary Blinken, Ambassador Tai and European Union (EU) leaders at the U.S.-EU Summit in Brussels. The U.S.-EU Summit presented an opportunity to rebuild and strengthen U.S.-EU ties and set a joint transatlantic agenda for the post-pandemic era. This includes fighting and ending the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe, committing to a green and sustainable global economy, coordinating on our shared challenges including China’s coercive economic practices and ensuring our global supply chains are free of forced labor from Xinjiang and around the world, and working together to strengthen our tech and trade cooperation to ensure openness, fair competition, transparency, and accountability.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo joined President Biden, Secretary Blinken, Ambassador Tai and European Union (EU) leaders at the U.S.-EU Summit in Brussels.

As the world’s largest bilateral trading relationship, U.S.-EU trade—both in goods and services—is a critical driver of job growth, innovation and entrepreneurship across both economies. The post-COVID-19 economic recovery will create unique opportunities for U.S. and European companies, particularly SMEs, to expand their collaboration, and for both the U.S. and EU to cooperate on the digital economy. Harnessing the full value of the digital economy will accelerate the path toward economic recovery and expand transatlantic commerce in new technologies and digital services.

As U.S. Commerce Secretary, Secretary Raimondo was particularly focused on how the U.S. and EU can work together to write the rules of the road for the 21st century economy based on shared democratic values. This included expanding and deepening trade and investment ties, aligning key policies on technology and standards, and driving a digital transformation that boosts innovation, delivers benefits to American workers, and is based on democratic values and respect for privacy and human rights.

“As democracies committed to individual liberties and fair competition, including data privacy, the U.S. and EU have far more in common than what divides us,” said Secretary Raimondo. “We should be driven by those commonalities to once again establish a global framework for long-term inclusive growth and prosperity, especially in areas like the growing digital economy. Strengthening our partnership will benefit citizens and businesses not only on both sides of the Atlantic, but across the world as well.”

At the Summit, the U.S. and EU launched the Trade and Technology Council (TTC), co-chaired on the U.S. side by Secretary Raimondo, Secretary Blinken and Ambassador Tai. The TTC presents a historic opportunity to deepen integration between our two economies, especially in technology-enabled sectors, through the better alignment of standards and tech policies, supporting transatlantic supply chains, and promoting the use of digital technologies by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

In addition to supporting President Biden’s mission at the U.S.-EU Summit, Secretary Raimondo met with EU Commission leadership and industry leaders to expand opportunities for American firms to collaborate with the European private sector and strengthen the deep commercial foundation of the transatlantic partnership.

Secretary Raimondo met with Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President for a Europe Fit for a Digital Age. They discussed the range of technology-related areas with potential for ongoing cooperation, including under the TTC, and, in this respect, agreed on the importance of securing a durable framework for transatlantic data transfers.  Secretary Raimondo underscored the importance of greater coordination on standards and on digital economy policies, including the Digital Markets Act. She noted that she looked forward to advancing these and other issues in future engagements with the Executive Vice President.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo and Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President for a Europe Fit for a Digital Age.

Following their meeting, Secretary Raimondo and Executive Vice President Vestager attended a roundtable with senior executives from leading companies in Europe and the U.S., hosted by DIGITALEUROPE. These companies highlighted the importance of Transatlantic commercial collaboration and urged the United States and the EU to facilitate greater collaboration through closer cooperation on a range of digital economy issues.  These included artificial intelligence, data flows, tech standards, export controls, digital skills training, and evidence-based application of competition policy to tech companies.

Additionally, Secretary Raimondo met with European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton. They discussed the importance of deepening collaboration on aligning tech policies, supporting SMEs in both markets, and strengthening Transatlantic supply chains, including with respect to semiconductors.  Secretary Raimondo welcomed the Vice President’s invitation for further engagement on tech policy developments in the EU, including the Digital Markets Act, and committed to regular and sustained dialogue on these and other topics related to the digital economy.

Following their meeting, Secretary Raimondo and Commissioner Breton joined a roundtable hosted by AmCham EU to showcase the importance of SMEs to the U.S.-EU economic relationship. They were joined by a range of European SMEs as well as a few senior executives from larger American and European companies to demonstrate concrete examples of partnerships between U.S. and EU businesses, highlighting the tangible benefits of Transatlantic cooperation for both sides of the Atlantic. Participants emphasized the significance of digital technologies that underpinned their business collaboration and suggested actions both governments could take to better support such partnerships, including developing common tech standards, expanding cooperation on cybersecurity, protecting the free of flow of data, strengthening transatlantic supply chains, and promoting the responsible use of artificial intelligence.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton at the EU American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).

Additionally, Secretary Raimondo and Ambassador Tai met with Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President for an Economy that Works for People. They agreed on the importance of ensuring that the TTC produce tangible results in the near term to demonstrate its value to businesses in the respective markets. They also explored additional areas of cooperation that would strengthen the Transatlantic trading relationship and help meet shared challenges, including combating global excess capacity and mitigating climate change through clean technologies.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo and Ambassador Tai with Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President for an Economy that Works for People.

Secretary Raimondo and EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders met to discuss their shared commitment to establishing comprehensive successor to the Privacy Shield framework that is fully in line with the Schrems II requirements and with U.S. law. They agreed on the importance of U.S.-EU data transfers to both citizens and businesses of all sizes on both sides of the Atlantic, and to continue negotiations underscored by a shared commitment to privacy, data protection and the rule of law.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders at Roundtable Discussion.

Secretary Raimondo and Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova met to discuss ways to support ongoing cooperation between the U.S. and EU that furthers the shared values underpinning this bilateral relationship. They welcomed the constructive engagement by both sides in the ongoing negotiations on a successor to the Privacy Shield framework. They also recognized that, while key issues remained to be addressed in those negotiations, the liberal values and commitment to individual privacy shared by the U.S. and EU would help drive those negotiations to a mutually-agreeable resolution at the appropriate time.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo and Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova.

Secretary Raimondo also met with Commissioner Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner for Energy. They discussed their shared vision for an ambitious and just transition towards net-zero emissions and the importance of strong Transatlantic commercial cooperation to ensure clean, secure and sustainable energy for both the U.S. and the EU. They also highlighted the importance of increasing deployment of green technologies, which will lead to job creation and support climate change mitigation in both markets.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson.

Finally, while in Brussels, Secretary Raimondo had an opportunity to meet with Commerce Department staff from several bureaus including the International Trade Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She was also able to celebrate time-in-service milestones for three colleagues: Geert Verdegem, Karel Vantomme and Stephane Vrignaud.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Meets with Commerce Department Brussels Staff.

“I want to thank our incredible Commerce Department staff in Brussels for their perseverance and dedication during the pandemic,” said Secretary Raimondo. “The U.S.-EU partnership is critical, and our staff on the ground ensures that we are advancing that partnership everyday by cooperating on key issues such as Transatlantic trade, data privacy, climate and green technology, and creating a level playing field, especially for small- and medium-sized American firms.”

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Talks with Commerce Department Brussels Staff.

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo joined President Biden, Secretary Blinken, Ambassador Tai and European Union (EU) leaders at the U.S.-EU Summit in Brussels.

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo joined President Biden, Secretary Blinken, Ambassador Tai and European Union (EU) leaders at the U.S.-EU Summit in Brussels.

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Residential Propane Price Analysis 2006 

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PRIDE Month: Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau Offers Valuable Data on Same-Sex Couples 

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The Department of Commerce (DOC) is proud to join the Nation in commemorating Pride Month. Pride Month is an opportunity to recognize the history of those who paved the way and to reflect on the continued fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

Same-sex families reflect growing diversity and living arrangements in the United States. In honor of Pride Month, the Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau has compiled key statistics on same-sex couples including the total number of same-sex households, where same-sex couples live, the percentage of same-sex couples that have children in their households, and incomes and level of education of same-sex married couples compared to opposite-sex married couples.

Following are some key statistics on same-sex households from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.

There were roughly 980,000 same-sex couple households in the United States in 2019 and most were married — around 58% compared to 42% unmarried.

Compared with opposite-sex couples, same-sex couples are more likely to have higher incomes, have both people employed, and be more educated.

Same-sex married couples tend to be younger than opposite-sex married couples and less likely to own their home. Yet, same-sex unmarried partners tend to be older than their opposite-sex counterparts, and more likely to own their home.

Nationally, 53.4% of people in same-sex married couples were female and 46.6% were male.

Among people in same-sex unmarried couples in the United States, 52.1% were female and 47.9% were male.

Same-sex married couples have a higher median household income than opposite-sex married couples: 107,200 and 96,930.

U.S. Census Bureau Graphic on Median Household Income for Married Couples: 2019.

Fifteen percent (14.7%) of the 1.1 million same-sex couples in the United States had at least one child under 18 in their household, compared with 37.8% of opposite-sex couples. Same-sex couples also tended to have smaller families. Among couples with children, 54.7% of same-sex couples only had one child, compared with 39.2% of opposite-sex couples.

Same-sex parents were more likely to be female. In 2019, 22.5% of female same-sex couple households had children under 18 present, compared with 6.6% of male same-sex couple households.

U.S. Census Bureau Graphic on Percentage of Children Living with Couples by Their Relationship to Parents and Couple Type.

While there are slightly more female same-sex couple households in the United States, male same-sex couple households are more common in cities with the most same-sex households.

Same-sex households make up 0.8% of all U.S. households, but some cities, such as San Francisco, have a higher percentage of same-sex households — 3.0% — than the national rate.

U.S. Census Bureau Graphic on Percentage of Same-Sex Couple Households by Selected Cities: 2017.

Through the American Community Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau collects data on same-sex couple households by asking how each person in the household is related to the householder (who owns or rents the home).

Households are identified as same-sex couple households if a spouse or unmarried partner is the same sex as the householder.

For more information, please see the U.S. Census Bureau’s Stats for Stories series: LGBTQIA+ Pride Month: June 2021.

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PRIDE Month: Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau Offers Valuable Data on Same-Sex Couples.

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PRIDE Month: Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau Offers Valuable Data on Same-Sex Couples.

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U.S. Department of Commerce Initiates Investigation of Imports of Civil Aircraft from Canada

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Deputy Secretary Don Graves Praises Commerce’s USPTO for Their Critical Work in Promoting American Competitiveness, Innovation, and Ingenuity

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USPTO Leadership Presents Graves with Copy of Ancestor’s Patent

On July 1, 2021, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves visited the Commerce Department’s U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) headquarters in Alexandria, VA. During his visit, he toured the National Inventors Hall of Fame museum, experienced a “day in the life” of a patent examiner and a trademark examining attorney, and met with leadership about the USPTO’s role in advancing American competitiveness. He later received a surprise framed copy of his ancestor’s patent who was one of the Nation’s first Black patent holders.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) museum is located at USPTO headquarters and tells the story on American innovation and showcases famous inventors including Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers and George Washington Carver. During his tour of the museum, Deputy Secretary Graves viewed the inspiring Gallery of Icons™ commemorating each of the more than 550 National NIHF Inductees, and saw first-hand the vast innovative advancements in automotive, photographic, and smartphone technologies via the museum’s Intellectual Property Power exhibit. Deputy Secretary Graves also learned about NIHF’s numerous invention education programs, focused on inspiring America’s youth to pursue careers in STEM.

Linda Hosler, USPTO’s National Outreach Partnerships Manager, provided a tour of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Museum to Deputy Secretary Graves. Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO.

Deputy Secretary Graves then participated in a tour where he visited five USPTO buildings, the Public Search Facility, the Global Intellectual Property Academy, the Clara Barton Auditorium and the Patent Trials and Appeals Board hearing room.

Deputy Secretary Graves visited the USPTO’s Global Intellectual Property Academy and Public Search Facility. Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO

He then participated in a “day in the life” of an examiner and heard from each business unit head at the USPTO to better understand their work and role at the USPTO. USPTO employs thousands of patent examiners and trademark examining attorneys that work regularly with inventors and entrepreneurs on intellectual property matters.

“The work you do is rooted in the fabric of America,” Deputy Secretary Graves told them. “Your work and the work of all your examiners provides the incentives for inventors to create things we never thought possible. And those inventions are commercialized into globally competitive companies that create jobs right here in the U.S.”

Deputy Secretary Graves later held a meeting with Drew Hirshfeld, performing the functions and duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and other USPTO leadership on the important role USPTO plays in American competitiveness. During that discussion, Deputy Secretary Graves praised them for reaching Patent Number 11 million as an important milestone in American innovation and ingenuity.

Deputy Secretary Graves met with Drew Hirshfeld, performing the functions and duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO.

“Patents and trademarks are fuel for our economy by enabling the creation of new products, new businesses, and entirely new industries that have the potential to change the world,” he said.

Before his visit concluded, Deputy Secretary Graves was presented with a copy of his ancestor’s patent. Deputy Secretary Graves comes from a long line of small business owners and has a rich family history connected to the Commerce Department. His four-times great grandparents built a successful horse and buggy taxi business in Washington that once stood at the site of the Commerce Department’s headquarters. Their son went on to own a premier hotel just blocks away and become one of our nation’s first Black patent-holders through Commerce’s U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Drew Hirshfeld presents Deputy Secretary Graves with a copy of his ancestor’s patent. Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO

“It was a wonderful surprise to receive a copy of my ancestor’s patent from the USPTO. Thinking back on my family’s roots, in this country, you can achieve anything you want — with a little help,” said Deputy Secretary Graves. Today, I still draw on the lessons of my family history for inspiration and today is a moment I will never forget.”

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Drew Hirshfeld presents Deputy Secretary Graves with a copy of his ancestor’s patent. Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO

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Drew Hirshfeld presents Deputy Secretary Graves with a copy of his ancestor’s patent. Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO

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Readout of Secretary Ross’s Meetings with Chinese Officials During East Asia Travel

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Commerce Ranks in Top Five Places to Work in Federal Government for Ninth Consecutive Year

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Recently, the Partnership for Public Service released the 2020 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings. And, for the ninth consecutive year, the Department of Commerce remained in the Top 5 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government ranking fifth among 17 large agencies.

The results were based on the annual 2020 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) sent to 37,247 eligible Commerce employees (non-political, non-seasonal, full-time/part-time, permanent, onboard as of October 2019) from September 21–November 2, 2020, to which 57 percent (21,310) of Commerce employees responded.

“While the Department had major strengths and made significant improvements since 2019, we remain committed to continue to improve and will review this year’s results and future feedback to identify opportunities on how we can make the Department the best place to work for you,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The latest ranking represents a 5.3 percentage point increase in the Partnership for Public Service’s overall Engagement score (from 69.6 in 2019 to 74.9 in 2020), making it clear that majority of the Department’s employees continue to recommend it as a good place to work and are satisfied with their job and organization. Commerce also ranked second in the new COVID overall category (90.9 score), which measures the extent to which employees feel their organization supported their mental and physical well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, provided the resources they needed to do their work, had leaders who communicated effectively and prioritized their welfare, and successfully delivered on their mission.

“The 2020 Best Places to Work data paints a picture of agencies that demonstrated agility and found creative ways for employees to successfully deliver on their missions in mostly remote settings while giving them the flexibility to meet their personal needs,” said Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service.

The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings are produced by the Partnership for Public Service—a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to improving the effectiveness of government and to the idea that government is most effective when it has an engaged workforce, strong leaders and the information to make smart decisions.

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Collage of Manufacturing Photos and the American Flag

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Collage of Manufacturing Photos and the American Flag

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Residential Propane Price Analysis 2006 

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Commerce's NTIA Releases Report on Current and Projected Federal Use of Spectrum by Space-Based Systems

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The following is a cross-post from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

Every day, Americans depend on space-based technologies, which power navigation services, accurate weather forecasts, rural Internet access, public safety communications, national security objectives, and more. All of these technologies depend on a key public resource – radiofrequency spectrum – both for controlling space operations and for relaying communications and data to and from Earth.

Today, NTIA released a first-of-its-kind report documenting the wide array of current and projected spectrum uses by space-based systems. The report, titled “The Spectrum Needs of U.S.-Based Space Operations,” will help inform policymakers and others regarding the key roles these systems perform.

The report highlights the economic, social and life-saving benefits of the communications, remote sensing, radio astronomy, and position, navigation, and timing services that these systems provide. A recent review by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis found the U.S. space economy added $108.9 billion in value to the current-dollar GDP.

Take the Global Positioning System (GPS), a U.S. government satellite system that provides essential location and navigation services to a wide range of consumer devices, including mobile phones. GPS also allows for the exact synchronization of computer, telecommunications and financial networks, and it plays a significant role in coordinating the elaborate ballet of orbiting satellites. The report cites data indicating that GPS impacts more than $1.4 trillion in the U.S. economy.

Beyond GPS, other space-based systems gather data needed for accurate weather forecasts, monitoring flooding and fire conditions, safe transportation and aviation systems, and other key elements of public safety and economic security. Our nation’s world-leading military makes extensive use of space-based systems for its global operations. Two major satellite television companies together had some 28.5 million customers at the end of 2020, and satellite-based radio had 35 million customers during the same period.

The satellite broadband Internet market, moreover, has the potential to substantially expand through the launching of multiple “mega-constellations” of low-earth-orbit satellites. The report also charts the future development of “over-the-horizon” markets and services, such as space tourism, which could generate $14 billion in cumulative revenues by 2028. It also explores the possibilities for space-based resource utilization, power-generation and manufacturing.

Importantly, the report explains that the vast distances between Earth and orbiting satellites — not to mention deep-space operations conducted by NASA around our solar system — make transmission links highly vulnerable to interference and disruption.  Radio astronomy operations particularly depend on extremely “quiet” spectrum environments to detect the most remote signals from distant galaxies.

To help policymakers, regulators and the general public understand the broad scope of space-based systems and their spectrum needs, the report includes an extensive and detailed appendix describing individual spectrum bands, allocations to space-based services, and illustrative examples of the systems using those bands.

Amazing things are happening in space, and the U.S. is leading the way. To learn more, read the full report.

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Every day, Americans depend on space-based technologies, which power navigation services, accurate weather forecasts, rural Internet access, public safety communications, national security objectives, and more. 

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Every day, Americans depend on space-based technologies, which power navigation services, accurate weather forecasts, rural Internet access, public safety communications, national security objectives, and more. 

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Exploring the Digital Nation: America's Emerging Online Experience

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U.S. Census Bureau to Release First Look at Nation's Demographic Characteristics from 2020 Census

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The following is a cross-post from the U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau by August 16 is set to release in-depth demographic statistics from the 2020 Census that will be used to redraw legislative voting districts.

These follow the April 26 release of the first results from the 2020 Census, which showed that the total population was 331.4 million. The first release determined each state’s share of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The August data release will provide the first look at the demographic characteristics of the nation by state, county and city (down to the census block level), including:

Race and ethnicity.

Voting-age population.

Occupied and vacant housing units.

People living in group quarters like nursing homes, prisons, military barracks and college dorms.

Aside from showing how the ethnic, racial, and voting age makeup of neighborhoods has changed since the 2010 Census, these detailed data will be used by most state legislatures to redistrict or redraw their political districts for elections.

“While the primary purpose of these data is for states to redraw their districts, these statistics will also tell us how many people live in each county, in each city and in each block,” said James Whitehorne, chief of the Census Bureau’s Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office. “This information will provide a detailed demographic portrait of our nation’s population for communities all across the United States.”

The August release will be in a “legacy” format that governments used in the 2010 and 2000 Censuses. States will use these files to begin their redistricting efforts. By September 30, the Census Bureau will make the same data available online in a more user-friendly format on data.census.gov.

In a new video, James Whitehorne and Nicholas Jones, the Census Bureau’s race/ethnicity Research and Outreach director, discuss what to expect in the upcoming data release.

For more information, view the 2020 Census Redistricting Files Press Kit.

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U.S. Census Bureau Graphic of United States for 2020 Census

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U.S. Census Bureau Graphic of United States for 2020 Census

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In the News: Secretary Raimondo Announces Historic Investment in America’s Communities

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Last week, Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced a series of programs to equitably invest the $3 billion in funding the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration received from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Secretary Raimondo laid out the Biden Administration’s vision for the investment during the White House press briefing on Thursday.

What people are hearing in their local news:

Associated Press: “This is about real help for communities across the country as they rebuild,” Raimondo said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s about longer-term investments to help communities build themselves back from the bottom up in the ways that work best for them.”

Sinclair: The Biden Administration is set to deliver a $3 billion boost…beginning this morning the government will begin accepting applications for economic development grants intended to create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

WABE (NPR Atlanta, GA): The Commerce Department says the focus of the Investing in America's Communities program will be on areas that are economically distressed and underserved they've been among the hardest hit during the pandemic. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says they'll be looking to fund programs that promote equity.

ABC News: Whether it is investing in a coal mining community, or in regional tourism, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says new "investing in America" grants being announced Thursday are designed so every community in America feels empowered and included to get back on their feet in the wake of the pandemic.

Reuters: There is also $100 million "specifically for Indigenous communities, which were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic," the department added.…Some $300 million in funding will also be set aside to aid hard-hit communities dependent on coal and other energy-sector work.

Nexstar: Secretary Raimondo says it will also help support moms who are forced to leave the workforce during the pandemic to take care of their kids

Scripps: The grants are targeted at job training programs, developing new industries, and supporting local infrastructure. Recipients will be picked based on their anticipated return on investment to taxpayers.

NPR: The Biden administration says 3 billion dollars in economic development grants is available to communities to support local infrastructure, job training programs, and to develop new industries.

WDTV (CBS Clarksburg, WV): The West Virginia coal community is eligible to receive millions of dollars in grants courtesy of the American Rescue Plan.

Good Morning San Diego: The grants will go towards supporting local infrastructure jobs, training programs, and developing new industries. Officials hope the grants will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and help struggling cities make long term investments.

WSAW (CBS Wausau, WI): President Biden’s administration says it’s making 3-billion dollars in economic development grants available to communities - a tenfold increase in the program paid for by this year's covid-19 relief bill.

KCRA (NBC Sacramento, CA): The goal is to help struggling communities make long term investments to drive development.

What people are saying:

Senator Jeanne Shaheen @SenatorShaheen: $3 billion is heading to communities across NH and the nation to jumpstart our economic recovery from the pandemic. These grants from the #AmericanRescuePlan will invest in infrastructure, job training, education and more.

Senator Joe Manchin @Sen_JoeManchin: GOOD NEWS: West Virginia is eligible to apply for six programs totaling $3 billion from the #AmericanRescuePlan to support economic development across West Virginia and America, and $300M will be invested for coal community economic development. https://www.manchin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/manchin-announces-west-virginia-eligible-for-3-billion-economic-development-funds-300-million-for-coal-communities

Read the fact sheet on the Investment in America’s Communities announcement HERE.

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Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo Announces $3 billion in funding the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration received from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

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Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo Announces $3 billion in funding the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration received from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

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Deputy Secretary Graves Applauds U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis for Producing Quality, Accurate and Equitable Data During Pandemic

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Today, the nation demands data about our people, places and the economy that is more timely, accurate, and granular than ever before. Earlier this month, Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves visited the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) headquarters in Suitland, MD and thanked them for their ongoing commitment to data innovation, quality and accuracy and for providing the nation with quality data to inform and guide the American people.

Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves with U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis leadership.

During a roundtable discussion with leadership from both bureaus, Graves applauded staff for continuing their efforts to innovate despite operational challenges posed by the pandemic. Specifically, Graves praised U.S. Census Bureau leadership and staff for achieving a fair and accurate 2020 Census.

“The staff of the Census Bureau braved the uncertainties of the pandemic, knocking on hundreds of thousands of doors collecting tens of millions of survey responses to ensure that everyone was counted,” Graves stated to Census Bureau leadership. “On behalf of the Biden Administration, thank you for everything you did to maintain this cornerstone of our democracy.”

In addition to the 2020 Census, Graves praised the Census Bureau’s ongoing work to provide timely and accurate data on our country’s people and businesses through the Household and Small Business Pulse Surveys. These surveys provide data on the social and economic effects of COVID-19 on American households and businesses and are disseminated in near real-time to inform federal and state response and recovery planning.

“These surveys have been a critical component of this Administration’s work to respond to and recover form the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Graves. “This timely data is helping us meet our goals for a more equitable recovery, and highlighting disparities in access to housing, food and employment among people of color.”

Graves also stressed the invaluable importance of these surveys in helping the Administration to ensure they meet vaccination goals and understand when it is safe to ease restrictions.

Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves at the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) headquarters in Suitland, MD.

Throughout the roundtable discussion, Graves heard from leadership and experts at both agencies on how to ensure that equity is centered in data collection, what innovations should be invested in to improve future data, and how we can protect the privacy of survey respondents while still providing accurate data, especially to marginalized groups.

Graves also praised both bureaus for maintaining all data security protocols and delivering high-quality Principal Federal Economic Indicators on time and when they were most critically needed – during a pandemic and an historically deep and unusual recession. Both Census and BEA produce some of the world's most closely watched statistics, including U.S. gross domestic product, new orders for manufactured goods, foreign trade and investment stats, and data on housing and retail sales.

Graves also discussed the important role Census and BEA play in measuring global value chains. Researchers from both bureaus are building links between BEA and Census data to create a more robust picture of globally distributed supply chains.

The Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis are part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Census Bureau mission is to serve as the nation's leading provider of quality data about its people and economy. BEA promotes a better understanding of the U.S. economy by providing the most timely, relevant, and accurate economic accounts data in an objective and cost-effective manner.

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Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves greets staff at the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) headquarters in Suitland, MD. 

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Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves greets staff at the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) headquarters in Suitland, MD. 

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Deputy Secretary Don Graves Hosts Roundtable with Minority-Owned Business Leaders to Address Critical Need for Investments in the Care Economy

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Deputy Secretary Don Graves hosted a virtual roundtable discussion earlier this month with minority-owned business leaders to address the critical need to create and invest in a care economy, especially for minority-owned businesses. The event comes as Secretary Raimondo and the Biden Administration continue to emphasize the need for transformational investments in America’s care infrastructure.

“More than 2 million women are out of work and women's participation in the workforce has dropped to the lowest level in more than 30 years,” said Deputy Secretary Graves. “To build a strong economy we need to invest in the care economy.”

The roundtable, “Caring for Yourself and Your Business,” was part of the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)’s Enterprising Women of Color Initiative (EWOC). Participants in the roundtable included Ronita Boult, CEO of Care with Compassion Community; Margie Benshing, CEO of Golden Sherpa; Shawn Pearson, President/Owner of the Zion Institute; and Ron Busby, President and CEO of the Black Chambers of Commerce. The participants shared their thoughts on the care economy and ideas on how we can help address the challenges facing minority entrepreneurs.

Deputy Secretary Don Graves at “Caring for Yourself and Your Business" virtual roundtable discussion with minority-owned business leaders.

“I want to remind you that the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency and the Commerce Department are here for you, Deputy Secretary Graves told participants. “I assure you that I will continue participating in MBDA events across all the many programs and initiatives organized by our great MBDA team, and more importantly, that the Secretary and I are focused on supporting the growth of minority businesses.”

The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) developed Enterprising Women of Color (EWOC) to focus on the fast-expanding minority women entrepreneur population as a revenue generator for families, communities, and the nNation.

Minority women are the fastest growing population of entrepreneurs. While many women are making tremendous strides in the business world, they still face obstacles as entrepreneurs. MBDA serves as an advocate for women’s economic empowerment by supporting efforts to advance women’s equality and promote women economic advancement programming. The vision of EWOC is to ensure that women worldwide across the worldto reach their economic potential.

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Deputy Secretary Don Graves at virtual roundtable discussion with minority-owned business leaders to address the critical need to create and invest in a care economy.

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Deputy Secretary Don Graves at virtual roundtable discussion with minority-owned business leaders to address the critical need to create and invest in a care economy.

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Learn More and Apply Now: Communities Across Nation Can Apply for $3 Billion in Funding from President’s American Rescue Plan

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On July 22, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced six programs, collectively called Investing in America’s Communities, that the Economic Development Administration (EDA) will execute to equitably invest the $3 billion it received from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

This EDA investment is the largest economic development initiative from the Department of Commerce in decades and will help communities across the country build back better.

Communities across the country can apply now.

Investing in America’s Communities includes:

Build Back Better Regional Challenge ($1 billion) will capitalize on American ingenuity and American workers by providing a transformational investment to regions across the country to revitalize their economies.

Good Jobs Challenge ($500 million) is designed to help get Americans back in good-paying jobs. The program will develop and strengthen regional workforce training systems and sector-based partnerships with a focus on programs targeted at women, people of color and historically underserved communities.

Economic Adjustment Assistance ($500 million) grants will help hundreds of communities across the nation plan, build, innovate, and put people back to work through projects tailored to meet local needs.

Indigenous Communities ($100 million) program will work hand-in-hand with Tribal Governments and Indigenous communities to develop and execute economic development projects they need to recover from the pandemic and build economies for the future.

Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation ($750 million) program will focus on revitalizing the hard-hit travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation industries and accelerate the recovery of communities that rely on these sectors.

Statewide Planning, Research and Networks ($90 million) grants include funding for state planning efforts as well as grants to build Communities of Practice to extend technical assistance to support EDA’s work with grantees.

As part of the six programs, EDA is making a Coal Communities Commitment, allocating $300 million to ensure support for these communities as they recover from the pandemic and create new jobs and opportunities, including through the creation or expansion of a new industry sector.

To learn more about EDA and our American Rescue Plan Funding Opportunities sign up for a webinar, EDA 101 and America Rescue Plan Overview, held from August 2—12, 2021.

For more information, visit www.eda.gov/ARPA for the latest news on EDA’s implementation plans. Sign up for the EDA newsletter and follow EDA on social media: Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

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Residential Propane Price Analysis 2006 

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FirstNet - Helping Firefighters Face Historic Wildfire Season Amid Pandemic

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By Kevin Nida and Chris Baker, First Responder Network Authority Senior Public Safety Advisors

Last year, firefighters on the west coast battled a relentless string of fires such as the Green Ridge Fire, the Holiday Farm Fire, the Gates Fire and many more. These devastating wildfires prompted mass evacuations, destroying thousands of homes and threatening dozens of communities. In Oregon, Washington, and California, local firefighters and other emergency personnel operated under considerable strain responding to COVID-19 as the pandemic simultaneously threatened areas under siege by fires.

As the fires and the pandemic continue to pose a double threat, many fire agencies have been relying more on mobile devices, such as tablets, smart phones, and laptops to receive information to support critical responder needs. Whether it’s staying connected to enable virtual briefings to command in line with pandemic protocols or relying on technology to help contend with reduced visibility or map out terrain on the fire line, technology has helped firefighters stay flexible and adapt in these trying times.

Over the course of our careers in the fire service, we have watched as technology has helped the fire service work faster and smarter. But it’s no secret that technology has also caused firefighters frustration juggling multiple devices, experiencing poor coverage, or trying to communicate over incompatible and congested networks. In the midst of battling wildfires or administering life-saving medical care, first responders on the front line need reliable communications tools to support their mission.

FirstNet was built for public safety

After the tragedies surrounding the terrorist attacks on 9/11 when emergency responders could not easily communicate with each other, public safety leaders led the rallying call for the creation of the FirstNet network. In 2012, Congress created the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) to oversee the creation and delivery of FirstNet in all U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia – including rural communities and tribal nations.

In our current capacity as senior public safety advisors for the FirstNet Authority, we are working closely with our network partner AT&T to create a dedicated public safety broadband experience for users by offering a range of specialized network services – such as priority access, preemption, more network capacity, and a resilient, hardened connection.

FirstNet is working as it was intended by giving first responders prioritized and preemptive service to make sure that emergency communications always comes first. The west coast wildfires and the COVID-19 response illustrates the importance of a nationwide network with a reliable connection and advanced capabilities.

Last year we witnessed the effectiveness of FirstNet firsthand during our response efforts at the North Complex Fire, the largest wildland fire in the history of California. We relied on FirstNet for our daily video briefings and general internet connectivity while commercial networks were overloaded. Due to COVID, briefings for fire personnel were held remotely to ensure social distance amongst responders. The 24/7 connectivity between base camp and the incident command post was imperative.

Learn more about how FirstNet is transforming public safety communications — contact your local FirstNet Authority Public Safety Advisor and sign up for our discipline newsletters. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for the latest FirstNet Authority updates.

⇒ Cross-post from FirstNet

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Protecting our Trademark Customers with Federal Registration of USPTO Marks

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Guest blog by David Gooder, Commissioner for Trademarks

Imagine you are a trademark applicant who receives a notice in the mail from an agency claiming to be the USPTO, with an almost identical logo, informing you that the USPTO will deny or cancel your registration unless you pay a required fee. Or if a business appearing to be affiliated with the USPTO solicits fees to help file your application and perform other registration services for you at a price that seems too good to be true. You pay the fees, assuming the businesses and promised services are legitimate, only to never hear from them again.

These types of misleading solicitations and trademark filing scams are a growing problem, especially as we are seeing more sophisticated enterprises entering the space. Some of these scammers attempt to impersonate the USPTO or claim varying forms of endorsement. The USPTO has taken several proactive steps to protect trademark applicants from being victimized by these opportunists, including alerting users to known scammers by posting a list on the USPTO website, working with law enforcement when appropriate, and sanctioning filers that violate USPTO rules.

Recently, the Department of Commerce took another important step to protect trademark customers by filing for federal registration of the USPTO marks. Like any other brand owner facing infringement by third parties, if we have federal trademark registrations, they will help us take appropriate legal action as needed to protect the USPTO brand from improper use by those trying to impersonate or falsely claim affiliation or endorsement with the USPTO.

We recognize the intrigue and irony of filing for federal registration of the USPTO marks...with the USPTO. It’s a big reason why the Department of Commerce is filing the application on our behalf, just as it has for its other bureaus. In fact, many other federal agencies own federal trademark registrations, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Park Service, and branches of the U.S. military, to name just a few.

As for process, the USPTO trademark examining attorney will examine the application as he or she does any application, and make his or her own determination. And while some could ask why we didn’t federally register these marks years ago, we realized we require the additional legal protections afforded the owner of a federally registered trademark in light of the rapid increase in sophistication of those unlawfully passing themselves off as the USPTO. We firmly believe that it’s never too late to do the right thing, and doing everything within our power to protect our trademark customers is the right thing.

While there is no one-size-fits-all strategy to address illicit or misleading activity of scammers, we are committed to keeping our customers well-informed and to fighting these scams. We look forward to building upon our comprehensive efforts and sharing more about them in the weeks to come. In the meantime, we encourage you to visit the USPTO website to learn more about ways to identify scams and keep your brand(s) protected.

⇒ Cross-post from USPTO

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Exterior shot of the Madison Building and Dulany Gardens at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO.

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Exterior shot of the Madison Building and Dulany Gardens at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO.

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Readout of Secretary Ross’s Meetings with Chinese Officials During East Asia Travel

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2020 Census Statistics Highlight Local Population Changes and Nation’s Racial and Ethnic Diversity

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The following is a cross-post from the U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau today released additional 2020 Census results showing an increase in the population of U.S. metro areas compared to a decade ago. In addition, these once-a-decade results showed the nation’s diversity in how people identify their race and ethnicity.

“We are excited to reach this milestone of delivering the first detailed statistics from the 2020 Census,” said acting Census Bureau Director Ron Jarmin. “We appreciate the public’s patience as Census Bureau staff worked diligently to process these data and ensure it meets our quality standards."

These statistics, which come from the 2020 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, provide the first look at populations for small areas and include information on Hispanic origin, race, age 18 and over, housing occupancy and group quarters. They represent where people were living as of April 1, 2020, and are available for the nation, states and communities down to the block level.

The Census Bureau also released data visualizations, America Counts stories, and videos to help illustrate and explain these data. These resources are available on the 2020 Census results page. Advanced users can access these data on the FTP site.

Population Changes Across the Country Since the 2010 Census

Today’s release reveals changes in the size and distribution of the population across the United States. The population of U.S. metro areas grew by 9% from 2010 to 2020, resulting in 86% of the population living in U.S. metro areas in 2020, compared to 85% in 2010.

“Many counties within metro areas saw growth, especially those in the south and west. However, as we’ve been seeing in our annual population estimates, our nation is growing slower than it used to,” said Marc Perry, a senior demographer at the Census Bureau. “This decline is evident at the local level where around 52% of the counties in the United States saw their 2020 Census populations decrease from their 2010 Census populations.”

County and metro area highlights:

The largest county in the United States in 2020 remains Los Angeles County with over 10 million people.

The largest city (incorporated place) in the United States in 2020 remains New York with 8.8 million people.

312 of the 384 U.S. metro areas gained population between 2010 and 2020.

The fastest-growing U.S. metro area between the 2010 Census and 2020 Census was The Villages, FL, which grew 39% from about 93,000 people to about 130,000 people.

72 U.S. metro areas lost population from the 2010 Census to the 2020 Census. The U.S. metro areas with the largest percentage declines were Pine Bluff, AR, and Danville, IL, at -12.5 percent and -9.1 percent, respectively.

A data visualization released today shows the population change at the county level from the 2010 Census to the 2020 Census. Read more about population change in the America Counts story, More Than Half of U.S. Counties Were Smaller in 2020 Than in 2010.

2020 Census Findings on Race and Ethnicity

The 2020 Census used the required two separate questions (one for Hispanic or Latino origin and one for race) to collect the races and ethnicities of the U.S. population — following the standards set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 1997. Building upon our research over the past decade, we improved the two separate questions design and updated our data processing and coding procedures for the 2020 Census. This work began in 2015 with research and testing centered on findings from the 2015 National Content Test, and the designs were implemented in the 2018 Census Test.

The improvements and changes enabled a more thorough and accurate depiction of how people self-identify, yielding a more accurate portrait of how people report their Hispanic origin and race within the context of a two-question format. These changes reveal that the U.S. population is much more multiracial and more diverse than what we measured in the past.

We are confident that differences in the overall racial distributions are largely due to improvements in the design of the two separate questions for race data collection and processing, as well as some demographic changes over the past 10 years.

Today’s release of 2020 Census redistricting data provides a new snapshot of the racial and ethnic composition of the country as a result of improvements in the design of the race and ethnicity questions, processing and coding.

“As the country has grown, we have continued to evolve in how we measure the race and ethnicity of the people who live here,” said Nicholas Jones, director and senior advisor for race and ethnicity research and outreach at the Census Bureau. “Today’s release of 2020 Census redistricting data provides a new snapshot of the racial and ethnic composition and diversity of the country. The improvements we made to the 2020 Census yield a more accurate portrait of how people self-identify in response to two separate questions on Hispanic origin and race, revealing that the U.S. population is much more multiracial and more diverse than what we measured in the past.”

Race and ethnicity highlights:

The White population remained the largest race or ethnicity group in the United States, with 204.3 million people identifying as White alone. Overall, 235.4 million people reported White alone or in combination with another group. However, the White alone population decreased by 8.6% since 2010.

The Two or More Races population (also referred to as the Multiracial population) has changed considerably since 2010. The Multiracial population was measured at 9 million people in 2010 and is now 33.8 million people in 2020, a 276% increase.

The “in combination” multiracial populations for all race groups accounted for most of the overall changes in each racial category.

All of the race alone or in combination groups experienced increases. The Some Other Race alone or in combination group (49.9 million) increased 129%, surpassing the Black or African American population (46.9 million) as the second-largest race alone or in combination group.

The next largest racial populations were the Asian alone or in combination group (24 million), the American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in combination group (9.7 million), and the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination group (1.6 million).

The Hispanic or Latino population, which includes people of any race, was 62.1 million in 2020. The Hispanic or Latino population grew 23%, while the population that was not of Hispanic or Latino origin grew 4.3% since 2010.

Read more about the adult and under-age-18 populations, the total number of housing units, and the group quarters population.

Information on the racial and ethnic composition of your state and county, and various measures of diversity are available in the following America Counts stories: 2020 U.S. Population More Racially and Ethnically Diverse Than Measured in 2010 and Improved Race and Ethnicity Measures Reveal U.S. Population Is Much More Multiracial.

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Graphic on the Nation’s Racial and Ethnic Diversity

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Graphic on the Nation’s Racial and Ethnic Diversity

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Trade at the Local Level: 2020 Metropolitan Export Data Now Available

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Cross-post by Ujjwall Uppuluri, Gulbin Yildirim, and Amanda Reynolds, International Trade Administration, Office of Trade and Economic Analysis

Most Americans live in metropolitan areas, which consist of densely populated core regions and surrounding areas with ties to those cores. Statisticians define these as Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), and trade specialists study these localities because they can provide valuable insight into the performance of U.S. exports, industries and our economy. MSAs, after all, are critical players in the U.S. economy and trade, accounting for an average of 89 percent of U.S. exports over the last five years.

Despite global economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was still a big year for the 392 MSAs of the United States, which in total exported $1.3 trillion in goods. While exports declined $194 billion from 2019, a deeper study of the MSA data reveals pockets of resilience. In fact, almost one-quarter of reported MSAs experienced export growth, with Portland (OR) and Stockton (CA) leading the charge (with increases of $4.1 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively).

In this blog, we will walk you through MSA export highlights for 2020, including destination and sector detail.

Top Metropolitan Area Exporters

For 2020, the top five MSA exporters by value included Houston (TX), New York (NY), Los Angeles (CA), Chicago (IL), and Dallas (TX). International trade is not just for the major U.S. hubs, however; the top 15 exporting MSAs also include smaller areas like Corpus Christi (TX), and El Paso (TX), which benefit from their location on the U.S. border.

While the top four exporting MSAs maintained their ranks from 2019, other top MSAs experienced shifts. For example, Seattle (WA) fell in rank from the 5th to the 14th–largest MSA exporter, largely explained by a drop in transportation equipment exports. In contrast, New Orleans (LA), a U.S. agricultural products hub, bumped up three places in rank to the 6th-largest exporter. Corpus Christi (TX) and Portland (OR) also had notable increases in rank, driven by increases in oil and gas and computers and electronics, respectively.

Top Export Products

MSA data also provides us with insights into products, not just places. For example, chemicals and computers and electronics were among the top exported goods for all the top five MSA exporters by value in 2020. Four of the top five MSAs also counted transportation equipment among their top exports. Looking across all MSAs, top export growth sectors included agricultural products and primary metal products, sectors which are less prevalent among the top five MSAs.

Top Export Destinations

Studying MSAs also helps us understand country-level demand for our products. 2020’s top MSA export recipients included Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In part because of their proximity to the U.S., Canada and Mexico are major markets for many metropolitan areas; one or both partners were among the top five export destinations for 45 of the 50 top metropolitan area exporters in 2020. China, the world’s most populous nation, was the top market in terms of export growth for many metropolitan areas in 2020 – New Orleans, Houston, and Portland all saw significant export increases to China, ranging from $2 to $4 billion.

Learn More

Click here to view graphics on top metropolitan area exporters. These are some of the highlights for the latest metropolitan area export data, but there is a lot more to see and learn about international trade at the local level. Be sure to visit ITA’s Metropolitan Export Series, a public database with interactive maps, data tools and factsheets showing U.S. goods exports by metropolitan area back to 2005. You will find information on top market destinations, top export sectors, exports by 3-digit ZIP code and county, and more!

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Cargo ship safely entering the port of Miami in Florida. (NOAA)

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Cargo ship safely entering the port of Miami in Florida. 

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Frequently Asked Questions: Section 232 Investigations: The Effect of Steel Imports on the National Security

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Department of Commerce’s NTIA Now Accepting Applications for $268 Million Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program

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The following is a cross-post by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today released a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program, which will direct $268 million for expanding broadband access and connectivity to eligible Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges or Universities (TCUs), minority-serving institutions (MSIs), and consortia led by an HBCU, TCU, or MSI that also include a minority business enterprise or tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.

“Communities of color have faced systemic barriers to affordable broadband access since the beginning of the digital age,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “The investments we make as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program will help communities that are struggling with access, adoption and connectivity, and will inform our path forward as we seek to finally close the digital divide across the country.”

The Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program was established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. Grants will be distributed to help HBCUs, TCUs and MSIs purchase broadband service or equipment, hire IT personnel, operate a minority business enterprise or a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, and facilitate educational instruction, including remote instruction.

“NTIA knows how crucial colleges, universities and other community institutions can be when it comes to reaching vulnerable citizens and making a lasting impact,” said Acting NTIA Administrator Evelyn Remaley. “We look forward to working with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges or Universities, and minority-serving institutions to advance our shared goal of a fully connected nation.”

The Notice of Funding Opportunity published today on grants.gov outlines the requirements for grant applications and other information about the program. Completed applications must be received by grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 1, 2021. In June, NTIA published the Final Rule for the program, which included programmatic scope, general guidelines, and described the agency’s method to determine applicant eligibility and identify which eligible recipients have the greatest unmet financial needs.

NTIA is holding a series of webinars to further inform the public. The next Connecting Minority Communities webinars will be held on August 18 and 19.

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NTIA is committed to increasing broadband Internet access across America, particularly in unserved and underserved communities.

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NTIA is committed to increasing broadband Internet access across America, particularly in unserved and underserved communities.

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Residential Propane Price Analysis 2006 

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Invention-Con 2021: Capitalizing on Your Intellectual Property

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Are you a young or independent inventor, an entrepreneur, or a small business owner whose success depends on guarding your creative work? Then don’t miss your chance to learn how different types of intellectual property (IP), such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights, are critical to your business strategy.

Register today for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) free online Invention-Con 2021: Capitalizing on your intellectual property, coming August 18-20.

Note this year’s special student programming: The August 18 agenda will feature Gitanjali Rao, inventor and TIME magazine’s 2020 Kid of the Year, and other young innovators who will share their experiences and insights. Please feel free to share the event link: www.USPTO.gov/InventionCon

Take this opportunity to hear from business and government experts about turning ideas into innovations, protecting your work, and accessing valuable resources that can help you succeed in the marketplace. Keynote speakers Serene Almomen, CEO of Senseware, and recording artist Ansel Brown will share their insights on science, technological innovation, music, and business.

Presentations and workshops will cover:

Putting your creativity to work

How IP applies in various fields, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, fashion, music, and literature

Types of IP protection: patents, trademarks, and copyrights

Marketing, manufacturing, and building a competitive advantage around your ideas

Fun, free educational resources for kids and teens

Innovation and the fight against COVID-19

And much more

Invention-Con 2021 will also include a wide range of virtual exhibitors from the USPTO and other federal government agencies.

This event is offered by the USPTO’s Office of Innovation Outreach. For questions or assistance, please contact inventioncon@USPTO.GOV

The USPTO offers many informative presentations, panels, and chats year-round. Find one that interests you on the USPTO events page.

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Invention-Con 2021 The Place for Inventors, Markers, and Entrepreneurs

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Over 3,000 Business Leaders Join Deputy Secretary Don Graves and NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas in Virtual Discussion on Administration’s Build Back Better Agenda 

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Earlier today, Deputy Secretary Don Graves and Isiah Thomas, NBA hall of famer and CEO of Isiah International, hosted a virtual briefing with over 3,000 business leaders to break down the importance of passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and to address how the American Jobs Plan will benefit small businesses across the country. The event was hosted by the Public Private Strategies Institute (PPSI).

To begin the discussion, Deputy Secretary Graves praised President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which has allowed more Americans to be vaccinated and is getting the economy back on track, but stressed the need to now focus on building long-term growth for generations to come.

“Right now, we need action on the American Jobs Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework to create millions of good-paying jobs, rebuild our country’s infrastructure, and position the United States to out-compete on the global stage,” Deputy Secretary Graves told the group.

Isiah Thomas stressed that he is a small business owner who has been impacted by COVID-19 and asked Deputy Secretary Graves how the President’s Build Back Better agenda will help both businesses and families.

“When we talk about infrastructure and the jobs plan, we are talking about people, not just about roads, bridges and tunnels.” Thomas said. “How does the President’s plan impact families, those seated around at the kitchen table, moms and dads that want to go back to work?”

“There are millions of Americans that want to work but lack access to affordable care for their children, a disabled family member or an aging parent,” said Graves. “The American Jobs Plan will create a care infrastructure and provide Americans with access to the care and support they need to get back to work.”

“There is a certain amount of dignity and respect that we owe to the elderly,” Thomas responded. “It is so refreshing to hear there is a plan to invest in people. We all want a level playing field. All Americans just want a fair shot, a chance to win the game.”

“The kids I grew up with could never have imagined being a CEO like yourself or in a position to pursue their dreams,” Graves told Thomas. “People want to work hard but can’t. The American Jobs Plan will invest in our human capital. It is the human component that makes this country the best in the world.”

In addition, Graves emphasized that equity is a significant part of the American Jobs Plan and that businesses benefit from a diverse and inclusive workplace.

“Every part of our country needs to have a fair shot. Whether you are on the West side of Chicago or the East side of Cleveland, everyone across the country deserves a chance to succeed.”

Deputy Secretary Graves also underscored the critical role workforce development plays in strengthening businesses, the economy, and American competitiveness.

“The American Jobs Plan will give Americans the training and the tools to access good quality and higher paying jobs,” said Graves. “Growing good-quality jobs is good for business and for critical industry sectors. When this legislation is passed, we will create opportunities for tens of thousands of businesses,” said Graves.

In conclusion, Isiah Thomas asked where businesses can find information and resources. Deputy Secretary Graves directed everyone to access the Commerce website, a one-stop-shop for businesses for business to access vast array of resources for small and minority-owned businesses including Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and Economic Development Administration.

Click here to view a recording of the event.

The day after the event, the President and the Senate bipartisan group announced agreement on the details of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure in nearly a century that will make transformational and historic investments. The deal will be taken up later in the Senate for consideration. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo issued a statement.

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U.S. Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves and NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas 

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U.S. Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves and NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas 

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Statement from the Department of Commerce on the President’s America First Budget Blueprint

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NTIA’s Broadband Infrastructure Program Receives Over 230 Applications, More Than $2.5 Billion in Funding Requests

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The following is a cross-post from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today that it has received more than 230 applications for the Broadband Infrastructure Program, for a total of more than $2.5 billion in funding requests across 49 states and U.S. territories.

NTIA has begun reviewing the applications as part of the $288 million grant program, which was funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the Act). Grants will be awarded to covered partnerships between a state, or political subdivisions of a state, and providers of fixed broadband service. The program’s 90-day application window closed on Tuesday, August 17.

Due to the high volume of applications, the award process will be highly competitive. As outlined in the Act, priority will be given to applications with proposed projects that:

1. Provide broadband service to the greatest number of households in an eligible service area;

2. Provide broadband service to rural areas;

3. Are most cost-effective in providing broadband service; or

4. Provide broadband service with a download speed of at least 100 Mbps and an upload speed of at least 20 Mbps.

“The intense demand for this program across the country demonstrates the widespread need for better broadband connectivity in unserved communities,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “These investments are critical, but there is more to be done. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, recently passed by the Senate, will expand upon the groundwork being laid by this program to advance digital equity and get us one step closer to every American having access to high-speed, affordable, and reliable Internet.”

“The state and local governments leading these proposed projects are strong partners with the federal government in closing the digital divide,” said Acting NTIA Administrator Evelyn Remaley. “We look forward to working closely with them in these efforts to expand Internet access throughout the country.”

NTIA will thoroughly and objectively review applications using a three-stage process: Initial Administrative and Eligibility Review of Complete Application Packets, Merit Review, and Programmatic Review. Reviewers will evaluate applications according to the criteria provided in Section V of the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Additional broadband funding may be available through the Department of Treasury’s American Rescue Plan Funds. The BroadbandUSA Federal Funding Guide also compiles federal funding opportunities for expanding and improving broadband access. More information about the Broadband Infrastructure Program can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and on the BroadbandUSA website.

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Statement from the Department of Commerce on the President’s America First Budget Blueprint

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Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves Joins Congressman Mike Doyle in Hosting Roundtable Discussion with Pittsburgh-Area Leaders on the Need for High Speed, Affordable Internet 

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Graves Praises Pennsylvania for High Vaccine Rate and Stresses Administration’s Commitment to the Economic Recovery of the Coal Community

Earlier this month, Deputy Secretary Don Graves joined Congressman Mike Doyle and Mayor Bill Peduto in hosting a roundtable discussion to address the increasing need for high-speed, affordable internet access in the Pittsburgh-area and across America. Graves also met with the local coal community to reinforce the Administration’s commitment to their economic recovery and later visited a local vaccination site to stress the importance of getting vaccinated.

Deputy Secretary Don Graves and Congressman Mike Doyle.

At the Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh, Deputy Secretary Graves opened the roundtable by stressing the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how wide the digital divide is in America and how much Americans rely on broadband for schools, jobs and telemedicine. Participants in the roundtable included Pittsburgh- and Alleghany County leaders advocating for broadband access and affordability in schools, healthcare, public safety communications and workforce development. The participants shared their experiences on broadband access and how we can face some of the connectivity challenges we face across our country.

“Broadband access and affordability are not a luxury but are an essential part of everyday life,” said Deputy Secretary Graves. “Parents should never again be in the position where due to lack of access to broadband, they need to decide which of their children gets to go to school online that day.”

Deputy Secretary Don Graves, Congressman Mike Doyle and roundtable participants at Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

Graves also underlined the fact that more than 35% of rural Americans lack wired access to broadband at adequate speeds, as well as roughly half of households on tribal lands. And how 80% of households in urban areas lack internet connection, with Black and Hispanic families less likely to have high-speed internet compared to their white peers.

“Investments in high-speed and affordable broadband access are a crucial part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to ensure that communities of color and other underserved communities get a fair shot at the American dream.”

Specifically, Deputy Secretary Graves praised the Senate’s recent passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which calls for an investment of $65 billion to help bring high-speed broadband to all Americans, to bring down high-speed internet prices across the board and to close the digital divide.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will create millions of good-paying jobs and position the U.S. to remain competitive in the 21st Century. This $654 billion investment in affordable, reliable broadband will allow all Americans to participate in the digital economy.”

Deputy Secretary Graves also underscored that broadband will be a top priority for the Department of Commerce and announced that communities across America can now apply to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Connecting Minority Communities Program that will direct $269 million for expanding broadband access and connectivity to Historically Black, Tribal and minority-serving colleges and universities to help them purchase broadband services or equipment, hire IT personnel, and create digital literacy programs.

Following the roundtable, Deputy Secretary Graves visited a vaccination site in Alleghany County where he underlined the importance of getting vaccinated and heard about the vital being done there to confront the virus. He also praised Pennsylvania as a model for vaccination nationwide with 66% of residents having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine compared to 58% nationwide.

Deputy Secretary Graves visits a vaccination site in Alleghany County, Pennsylvania where he underlined the importance of getting vaccinated and heard about the vital being done to confront the virus.

Later in the day, Deputy Secretary Graves hosted a roundtable discussion with the local coal community to stress the Administration’s commitment to their economic recovery. The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently launched a Coal Communities Commitment that allocates $300 million from the American Rescue Plan to support coal communities as they recover from the pandemic and to help them create new jobs and opportunities.

Photo of Deputy Secretary Graves at roundtable discussion with members of the Pittsburgh-area coal community.

To conclude the day, Deputy Secretary Graves visited Wabtec Corporation, a valued export client of Commerce's U.S. Commercial Service with a rich manufacturing history in Pittsburgh. During his visit and tour, Deputy Secretary Graves learned about their leadership in advancing zero-emissions transportation and tackling workforce development challenges.

Deputy Secretary Graves at a tour of Wabtec Corporation in Pittsburgh, PA.

For more information on NTIA’s Connecting Minority Communities Program, a series of webinars will be held to further inform the public about the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The next Connecting Minority Communities webinars will be held on September 22 and 23. Completed applications must be received by grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 1, 2021.

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Deputy Secretary Graves visits a vaccination site in Alleghany County, Pennsylvania where he underlined the importance of getting vaccinated and heard about the vital being done to confront the virus.

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Deputy Secretary Graves visits a vaccination site in Alleghany County, Pennsylvania where he underlined the importance of getting vaccinated and heard about the vital being done to confront the virus.

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Final Antidumping Determinations on Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Spain

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20 Years Later: NIST's World Trade Center Investigation and Its Legacy

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The following is a blog post by S. Shyam Sunder who led the Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was one of the worst-ever building disasters in recorded history — killing 2,749 people. More than 400 emergency responders were among those killed, the largest loss of life for this group in a single incident.

I was shocked to learn of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, along with the rest of the nation, while attending a conference in Krakow, Poland. My immediate thoughts that Tuesday turned to the safety of my family back home. Once I talked to them and knew they were safe, I decided to fly to Berlin since that would give me more options to get home quickly once flights resumed over U.S. airspace. Over breakfast at the Berlin hotel that Friday, I began sketching out initial ideas for our response that would involve a reconnaissance and assessment phase followed by a more detailed investigation.

A few weeks later, other National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) leaders and I began briefing policy leaders at the Department of Commerce, the parent agency of NIST. We explained the ways in which our agency could help determine the technical reasons why the buildings collapsed — and how this knowledge could not only provide answers for all those affected by the WTC disaster but also help make all buildings safer in the future. Meeting with House and Senate congressional staff, we discussed the lack of adequate authorities for any government agency, not just NIST, to conduct technical investigations into such building collapses. We reminded them about NIST’s long history and expertise in conducting disaster and failure studies, from the Gulf Coast structures destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and the 1971 San Fernando earthquake to the collapse of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel walkway in 1981 and the collapse of Connecticut’s L’Ambiance Plaza building in 1987.

After numerous briefings and two hearings at which the NIST director and others testified, Congress enacted, and the president signed into law, the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act of 2002. This law, for the first time, gave NIST a comprehensive set of authorities to conduct technical investigations in the wake of any building failure that resulted in substantial loss of life or posed a significant threat of doing so. Congress directed $16 million to support the NIST investigation as part of an emergency supplemental appropriations for the 2002 fiscal year.

I had the unique opportunity and privilege to be engaged in every aspect of the investigation from its conception, planning and budgeting to its execution, communication and the implementation of its recommendations via standards, codes and industry organizations. I was appointed to lead the WTC investigation while serving as chief of the Structures Division, just seven years after I had joined NIST from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I embraced this immense new responsibility to help find out what happened on that day and what, if any, actions should be taken to make our buildings more resilient.

The NIST team for the WTC investigation included approximately 85 staff members from across the agency. But the investigation was not done only by NIST. The full investigation team consisted of more than 200 people, including world-class scientists and engineers from industry and academia, to help us meet the challenges of the investigation’s unprecedented scope, scale and technical complexity. The investigation team acted tirelessly with dedication to and in memory of the lives that were lost on that day, and with the complete objectivity and integrity that have guided NIST over its 120-year history. Our investigation also benefited from the new NCST Advisory Committee established by Congress and made up of highly respected non-NIST experts from industry and academia.

The WTC buildings collapsed from many different factors working together in a complex fashion. Our investigation used physics-based computer simulations together with the available evidence. These very large-scale computations took into account the multiple impacts of airplane and debris, the spread of multi-floor fires ignited by jet fuel or flying debris, the heat-related weakening of structural components with intact or dislodged fireproofing materials, and the complex responses of the building structures leading to their collapse. Successfully combining state-of-the-art computational tools in ways that had not been done before, a single end-to-end simulation on then-existing computing resources took about two months to carry out for one of the WTC towers and eight months for WTC 7. We conducted live fire experiments that ranged from the simple (to gather data on burning characteristics of the jet fuel) to the more complex (a complete WTC office mock-up with furnishings). These experiments validated the computer simulations that would ultimately determine the probable collapse sequence for each building and guide many recommendations.

We relied on extensive evidence — combined with careful and detailed review, analysis and testing — to build our models, and validate our simulations, hypotheses and findings. This evidence included 236 major structural steel components, 7,000 video segments, more than 7,000 photographs, emergency responder communications, published accounts of evacuation from 400 survivors, and a large collection of design, construction, maintenance and inspection documents for the three buildings.

We conducted extensive interviews with more than 1,000 surviving occupants of the World Trade Center buildings to analyze occupant behavior and evacuation during emergencies. We also interviewed 116 emergency responders to document and assess their operating protocols and wireless communications in large-scale events and challenging radio-frequency environments such as those encountered in the WTC buildings.

The following is a blog post by S. Shyam Sunder who led the Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

We coordinated with the National Commission on Terrorist Activities Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission) and the City of New York in the planning and conduct of emergency responder interviews. This enabled 9/11 Commission staff to participate in these interviews alongside NIST staff. We also engaged extensively with local authorities and key stakeholders in New York City, including the families of victims and professional organizations, and with other federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The NIST team ensured that the investigation was conducted in an extremely open and transparent manner given the intense interest of the public — especially families of victims, local authorities and industry — who held many different perspectives on the reasons for the building collapses and loss of lives. We met regularly with diverse stakeholder groups, soliciting and considering their input in developing the investigation plan, findings, recommendations and final reports. We provided detailed updates and answered wide-ranging questions at 23 public meetings and briefings (with seven in New York City), issued seven news releases and media updates, and maintained a comprehensive, publicly accessible website during the investigation.

As a result of the exceptional teamwork in our investigation, we were able to overcome the many technical and nontechnical challenges, while maintaining the highest degree of quality, objectivity and credibility. We are deeply grateful to all of the people who worked with NIST, provided photos and other critical information, and gave unstintingly of their time to support and help us successfully carry out the largest U.S. building failure investigation ever conducted.

NIST released 47 reports from our investigation — totaling about 11,000 pages — which included robust science-based findings and conclusions, as well as recommendations for major safety improvements to U.S. buildings. We determined why and how each of the 110-story WTC towers collapsed following the initial impacts of the aircraft and why and how the 47-story WTC 7 collapsed; whether the injuries and fatalities were high or low depending on location, including all technical aspects of fire protection, occupant behavior, evacuation and emergency response; and what procedures and practices were used in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of these buildings.

The NIST recommendations resulted in more than 40 major and far-reaching changes to U.S. building and fire safety codes to improve the safety of buildings, their occupants and emergency responders. These recommendations were not designed, however, to make buildings withstand aircraft impact. It would be better instead to keep terrorists away from airplanes, and airplanes away from buildings.

Our recommendations have already had significant impact on design and construction practice for high-rise buildings in New York City, across the U.S., and around the world. We now see evidence of more resilient construction such as wider stairways with hardened enclosures, increased fire resistance rating for structural frames, significantly improved bond strength for fireproofing materials so that it is difficult to dislodge them from the structural steel they are protecting, and more robust radio communications coverage within buildings for emergency responders.

Now, 20 years later, I have found that this event has had a profound effect on the arc of my career and life’s work by opening up many new opportunities to advance impactful research and innovation for our nation. The impact our recommendations have had on U.S. building and fire codes and standards has been our greatest accomplishment, especially seeing as the federal government does not have any regulatory authority over them. Instead, standards and codes development organizations quickly adopted them. Changes to the nation’s building and fire codes and standards — stemming from our proactive efforts to engage the standards and codes bodies — were history-making due to the extraordinary magnitude of the safety improvements, uncharacteristically rapid speed with which such major changes were adopted (less than five years), and exceptional support of the nation’s building and fire safety officials. These changes have significantly advanced the safety and protection of America’s buildings, their occupants and emergency responders in future disasters.

NIST rarely — if ever — had experienced such active public and media interest during — and after — an investigation or study. We have reviewed other WTC studies that have come out since we completed our investigation, including those that consider alternative hypotheses for the WTC building collapses. Based on our exhaustive analysis and the evidence available to us, NIST continues to stand behind the findings and recommendations of our investigation.

The WTC investigation also had a profound impact on NIST itself. Based on our experience from the WTC investigation and our new investigative authorities, we began a formal NIST program in 2010 to coordinate disaster and failure studies. This program has allowed NIST to respond more rapidly and effectively to incidents such as the May 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, and the June 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium in Surfside, Florida.

It also enabled NIST to initiate, develop and establish a world-class disaster resilience program beginning in 2007. This program is transforming the safety of buildings and infrastructure systems to a comprehensive community-based approach. In recognition of our WTC work, Congress designated NIST as the lead federal agency to oversee the $130 million per year, multi-agency U.S. National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) in 2004. Congress further enacted the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act in 2004 and designated NIST as its lead agency in 2015. We have achieved significant advancements in structural fire engineering practices through new standards and guidelines. This effort continues via a unique new NIST facility — the National Fire Research Laboratory — to test the performance of real-scale structures under realistic fire and structural loading. Today, our disaster resilience program is addressing the risks of climate change to our communities due to the increasing frequency and severity of hurricanes, tornadoes and fires at the wildland-urban interface.

I visited New York City frequently and spent a considerable amount of time there during the investigation, and continue to often visit the city. Our team received excellent, vitally needed support and cooperation from New Yorkers. New Yorkers are extraordinarily resilient. Just look at how they responded to the tragic events of 9/11. It is gratifying to see all the great progress that has been made in fully rebuilding the World Trade Center complex and the many new safety features that have been implemented consistent with our recommendations.

In 2014, my family and I had the privilege of visiting the largely underground 9/11 Memorial and Museum as well as the newly built 104-story One World Trade Center. The curators who were planning the 9/11 museum came to NIST several times to look at pieces of World Trade Center steel that were under investigation at the time. The curators ended up selecting pieces of steel that are now in the museum. They include two large exterior columns that were struck by the aircraft when it crashed into WTC 1. These visits were emotional experiences for me since they brought back vivid memories of the tragic events and consequences of that day and how far we have come as a nation since then. I am very proud of what the NIST team accomplished through our investigation and the lasting impact of the resulting changes on the safety and resilience of our nation’s buildings, their occupants, and emergency responders.

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National Institute of Standards and Technology

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NIST Graphic on the Collapse of the World Trade Center

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NIST Graphic on the Collapse of the World Trade Center

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Deputy Secretary Don Graves Joins Oregon Senator Ron Wyden in Addressing Need to Invest in Care Workers and Care Economy

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Earlier this month, Deputy Secretary Don Graves hosted a virtual roundtable discussion on the economic impact and need to have accessible and affordable childcare in the workplace with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Deputy Secretary Graves was joined by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and AFSCME President Lee Saunders in emphasizing the importance of family medical leave and the need to invest in our nation’s care workers and a care economy. The event comes as Secretary Raimondo and the Biden Administration continue to champion the need for historic investments in America’s care infrastructure.

“It is simple – in order for you to be able to go to work, you need to know that your loved one is being taken care of,” said Deputy Secretary Graves. “We know that building a strong care infrastructure is not just a moral imperative – it’s a business imperative.”

The roundtable also highlighted the importance of investing in children and families. Participants in the roundtable included Lee Saunders, President of AFSCME; Senator Ron Wyden; Marisa Wilson, an impacted worker; Miren Algorri, a family care provider; and moderator Julie Kashen, the Director of Women’s Economic Justice and a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation. The participants shared their thoughts on the need for a care economy and how workers, families, and the U.S. economy could benefit from investments in our care infrastructure.

“For too long, caregivers — who are disproportionately women, and women of color, and immigrants — have been unseen, underpaid, and undervalued,” Deputy Secretary Graves told participants. “To build a strong economy, we need a strong care economy. We need to bring dignity back to these important jobs by providing better wages, benefits, opportunities, and support.”

The Commerce Department and the Biden Administration also view investments in the care economy as essential to U.S. competitiveness and supporting the development of our generation of talent.

President Biden has made the care economy a priority, and Secretary Raimondo and Deputy Secretary Graves are committed to advocating for ways to pass funding and make substantial investments in the infrastructure of our care economy including creating new and better jobs for caregiving workers.

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Deputy Secretary Don Graves at Virtual Roundtable Discussion with Senator Ron Wyden, AFSCME President Lee Saunders and Impacted Care Workers

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Deputy Secretary Don Graves at Virtual Roundtable Discussion with Senator Ron Wyden, AFSCME President Lee Saunders and Impacted Care Workers

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Secretary Gina Raimondo and Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed Call for Major Federal Investment in America’s Care Economy

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The following is a cross-post from the office of Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed

Investing in America’s care economy workforce and infrastructure will boost U.S. economy & improve access to essential health, education, childcare and elder care services

In an effort to boost economic recovery, deliver critical services for children, families, and seniors, and promote sustainable economic growth, U.S. Senator Jack Reed is teaming up with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo to promote workforce investments and initiatives to strengthen America’s care economy, attract and reward human services employees, and bolster America’s caregiver network.

From child care staff to senior caregivers helping older Americans live independently from the comfort of their own home to social workers assisting families in need, the “care economy” encompasses many public and private enterprises delivering health, education, and social services and contributes $648 billion to the U.S. economy.

Federal investment in the care economy is both an economic and moral imperative, and a major opportunity for innovation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projects that by 2040, the number of Americans aged 65 and older will more than double to 80 million, while the number of adults aged 85 and older will almost quadruple.

On August 27, Senator Reed and Secretary Raimondo joined with caregivers, workforce development experts, innovators, community and business leaders in calling for major new investments in the care economy, including making care affordable, taking financial care of our care workforce, and addressing the lack of quality care facilities.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Rhode Island Senator Jack Raimondo at a roundtable discussion with caregivers, workforce development experts, innovators, and community and business leaders at the Boys and Girls Club in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

“Care economy workers are the definition of essential. Moving past the pandemic requires us to move the care economy forward to benefit workers, employers, those who need care now and in the future, and those who provide it.  The federal government must wisely invest in strengthening the care economy to boost short-term recovery and foster long-term, sustainable growth. The Biden Administration’s Build Back Better agenda offers a major step forward and Congress needs to act,” said Senator Reed.

“The Biden-Harris administration has made tremendous progress in helping our economy build back better in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but in order to make a full recovery, it is imperative that we support and strengthen our nation’s care economy as well. Investing in our caregivers and making care more affordable was always front of mind when I was Governor of Rhode Island and continues to be one of my biggest priorities at the Department of Commerce,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “President Biden has proposed historic investments in care infrastructure that would support access to affordable, high-quality care; raise wages; increase opportunities for the care workforce; and create more jobs. I am proud to be a part of this effort and I am equally proud to watch Rhode Island continue to lead the way on this issue.”

Reed and Raimondo began the day with a tour of phlebotomy technician training offered by the Cranston Public Schools Career & Technical Center and Cranston Adult Education Program. There, local students are learning about phlebotomy, the practice of drawing blood from patients and taking those blood specimens to a laboratory to prepare for testing.  The need for people with phlebotomy skills has increased dramatically during the pandemic, and phlebotomy training is often a stepping-stone to careers in health care.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed at the Cranston Public Schools Career & Technical Center in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Next, Secretary Raimondo and Senator Reed met with caregivers, including child care providers and senior care workers, at a care economy roundtable at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket. The discussion focused on addressing America’s human services and caregiver staffing needs and shifting workforce landscape as the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Rhode Island Senator Jack Raimondo with caregivers, workforce development experts, innovators, and community and business leaders at the Boys and Girls Club in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

According to a 2020 survey by AARP, more than 50 million Americans serve as unpaid caregivers for loved ones with chronic illnesses, disabilities, and special needs. According to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, over 7.5 million respondents attribute caring for a child who was not in school or daycare as the main reason they were unemployed. And millions of Americans left their jobs during the pandemic due to caregiving responsibilities or were forced to alter their work schedules to care for children, parents, or loved ones coping with health issues.

To help strengthen America’s economy and lower the cost of child care and elder care for families and seniors while paying living wages to care providers, President Biden’s “American Jobs Plan” and “American Families Plan” would deliver a $600 billion boost for the care economy.  Under Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, about $400 billion over a decade would dedicated toward giving more elderly and disabled people basic care and reliable, affordable services they need to live healthy and independent lives, while $200 billion would go toward stabilizing the child care system and creating free universal pre-K opportunities.

During the pandemic, Senator Reed helped direct $125 million in federal funding to enhance child care in Rhode Island.

And earlier this month, with Reed’s backing, the U.S. Senate voted 69 to 30 to pass a major infrastructure package that makes investments in roads, bridges, rail, transit, airports, ports, water systems, and high-speed broadband.

When the U.S. Senate returns to Washington, DC next month it is expected to debate a $3.5 trillion proposal designed to help create jobs and lower child care, senior care, prescription drug, housing, and higher education costs for working families.  The measure also includes paid and family leave policies that would increase labor force participation, strengthen America’s global competitiveness, and reduce the burdens on caregivers.

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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed at the Cranston Public Schools Career & Technical Center in Cranston, Rhode Island.

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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed at the Cranston Public Schools Career & Technical Center in Cranston, Rhode Island.

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Residential Propane Price Analysis 2006 

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Announcing the 2021 Class of Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental (SEE) Ambassadors

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The SEE Ambassadors program recognizes individual Departmental employees for their outstanding performance in implementing exceptional cost-saving projects and/or programs that help the Department achieve its mission to implement sustainability and improve energy efficiency, water conservation, environmental performance, and awareness.  Despite the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, these colleagues persevered and brought their thoughtful leadership, innovation, and expertise to the table to help institute and promote a culture of sustainability at the Department.

On behalf of the Department’s Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer, the Office of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Program is excited to announce the Department of Commerce 2021 Class of SEE Ambassadors:

Census

Trung (Michael) Nguyen – For his tremendous contributions in reducing paper use as part of the Census Reimagined project, including supporting the development of records management procedures and developing training materials to assist with transitioning paper records to a digital platform.

Chante' Sawyers – For her exemplary leadership within the Census Records Management Office, where she collaborated with the Administrative and Customer Services Division during the Census Reimagined project to drastically reduce paper use and to generate renewable energy by processing recycled paper at an Energy-from-Waste processing facility.

International Trade Administration (ITA)

Victoria Yue – For demonstrating great initiative and inclusive leadership as the new leader of the International Trade Administration Climate Working Group. Ms. Yue has been instrumental in ITA's efforts to develop a climate strategy.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Christopher Best – For supporting energy conservation efforts on the NIST Gaithersburg campus by troubleshooting and repairing aging heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment, initiating procurement requests to have contractors repair or replace failing equipment, and ensuring air exchange systems are operating smoothly, which has been especially critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stephen Coulter – For closely monitoring and adjusting the direct digital control systems that serve as the heartbeat of the numerous HVAC systems on the NIST Gaithersburg campus; Mr. Coulter carefully addresses any system malfunction and restores the system to its efficient, energy-saving operational condition.

Noli Manaloto – For his expertise in air balancing and airflow calibration techniques, which helps to maintain energy-efficient operations and ensures the many HVAC units on the NIST Gaithersburg campus deliver the proper number of fresh conditioned air changes per hour, a metric which has become especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

George F. (Frank) Potts – For embodying the concept of energy conservation throughout his workday, including developing a daily “energy to-do list” during his morning commute, skillfully executing energy-saving adjustments to building equipment, and helping to ensure success for NIST Gaithersburg’s Demand Response program.

Thomas Salvermoser – For his excellent work managing NIST Gaithersburg’s HVAC building automation and related IT security systems to help maintain proper temperature and humidity in NIST's research lab spaces; and for ensuring the energy conservation measures that apply to the HVAC mechanical systems remain malware-free and operating at peak performance levels.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Jennifer Melton – For her exceptional leadership shepherding NOAA's environmental and sustainability programs during a period dominated by the impacts of and response to COVID-19; her actions continue to help institutionalize environmental management and sustainability considerations in NOAA leadership’s decision-making processes.

Dr. S. Kalei Shotwell – For dedicating much of the last five years to growing the conceptual, methodological, and now technological framework for including environmental information and adapting the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) stock assessments, which provide valuable information on fish stock and are at the foundation of NMFS’s mission to sustainably manage the Nation’s fisheries.

Rob Vivian – For supporting a safe and healthy work environment at the NMFS Pascagoula laboratory during COVID-19 by equipping the building HVAC air handling unit with a UV-C system that disinfects airflow. UV-C wavelength systems are used in many hospitals to inactivate or kill microorganisms, including antibiotic-resistant germs.

Scott Walker – For ensuring Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) practices and standards are maintained throughout the NOAA Campus in Silver Spring, MD.  Mr. Walker works hand-in-hand with building management to perform audits and find ways to conserve energy and save money.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Kurt Gruell – For leading the vision and effort to implement the Pharos printing project, which involves utilizing the Pharos print management tool to optimize printing for efficient resource use and to save on the agency’s paper printing costs.

Jason Lott – For successfully pivoting from USPTO’s traditional in-person delivery of trademark information to a robust online offering, namely, the Trademark Basics Boot Camp series. Mr. Lott was key in both developing the program materials and delivering the virtual programs.

Craig Morris – For quickly adapting to new formats for delivering educational content to an online audience. Mr. Morris was instrumental in leading his team to develop and launch the first online Trademark Basics Boot Camp, thereby lessening the demand for air and vehicle travel and cutting the associated carbon emissions.

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Announcing the 2021 Class of Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental (SEE) Ambassadors

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Announcing the 2021 Class of Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental (SEE) Ambassadors

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Honoring First Responders on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11

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Guest blog post by Edward Parkinson, CEO First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority)

Soon after the planes hit the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, Brad Morrell deployed from Utah to New York City as part of an urban search and rescue team.

Aboard the military airlift transporting rescuers, Brad remembers seeing otherwise empty skies except for the fighter jets escorting their plane. When they got to the fallen towers, the scene was unlike anything else he and his teammates had experienced.

In the initial days, cell service was non-existent, land-mobile radios were down, and repeaters to boost signals weren’t working. The only communications available to Brad and his team were two-way pagers they brought from Utah.

“We knew that comms was an issue. For the first few days, we couldn't talk from Ground Zero back to our base of operations,” said Brad who now serves as the FirstNet Authority’s Director of Network and Technology Operations.

“After a few days, we got some repeaters up. But communications at Ground Zero was essentially being done the old-fashioned way. It was just face-to-face or yelling across the way. It hampered operations for sure.”

The tragedies of September 11 revealed fundamental problems with communication systems then used by our nation’s first responders. Radios relied on by police, fire, and paramedics did not easily operate across different agencies. Land and mobile phone lines were overwhelmed by a high volume of calls. First responders struggled to communicate with each other.

At the FirstNet Authority, our story is indelibly linked to September 11, 2001. Our mission is to oversee a communications network – FirstNet – that was created in light of the events of 9/11 to give American first responders a reliable nationwide broadband network.

Bravery and selflessness of America’s first responders

Brad is one of tens of thousands of first responders from across the country who ran towards danger to aid their fellow Americans at the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the plane crash in the fields of Pennsylvania. The fateful events of that day forever changed our nation – and called on the bravery and selflessness of first responders as they faced unimaginable challenges.

“9/11 was a national tragedy in every sense of the term, but it was also a moment for the nation to see our first responders,” said Darrin Jones, Executive Assistant Director of the FBI's Science and Technology Branch and member of the FirstNet Authority Board.

“It was something that very few people who lived through that time will forget, seeing people putting themselves at risk in a very selfless way to try and save others and to try to get to the bottom of everything that happened to prevent it from happening again.”

No greater job

The 9/11 Commission examined the circumstances of the attacks and issued a report in 2004 that recommended a nationwide network for public safety communications. First responders needed a way to communicate that was interoperable among different agencies, disciplines, and jurisdictions and that accommodated the ever-increasing use of data.

Bill Freeman, Senior Public Safety Advisor at the FirstNet Authority, said, “Talking about interoperability, the 9/11 Commission had the vision to realize that data was going to be a necessity for public safety. And that started the path to where we are today.”

Bill deployed to the Pentagon as part of an urban search and rescue task force. He went to his kids’ schools to say goodbye and then drove overnight from Memphis, Tennessee, getting to work as soon as he arrived the next morning. The team worked 12-hour shifts to help with rescue efforts and later turned to recovery efforts.

“It’s one of those events in a public safety person’s life that will be there forever with them. Regardless of whether you were there or not, it impacted you as a public safety person,” said Bill about the events of 9/11.

“We have a tough job and we do it because we love it. We get to help people. In my mind, there’s no greater job.”

Congress takes action

The events of 9/11 also led me to the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, where I had an opportunity to be involved in developing solutions to address national public safety issues. The committee covered a wide range of topics related to the nation’s homeland security, and I was drawn to the benefits that public safety technology could bring to first responders and our communities.

In the years after September 11, the public safety community worked diligently to urge Congress to pass legislation establishing a single network that would allow public safety agencies to communicate nationwide. The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act was signed into law in February 2012 and allocated $7 billion and 20 megahertz of broadband spectrum to establish a network for first responders and to create the FirstNet Authority. I’m proud to have worked with leaders in Congress and the public safety community moving the legislation for FirstNet forward. It is truly an honor to serve public safety every day at the FirstNet Authority.

A network for public safety, by public safety

Twenty years ago, the 9/11 terrorist attacks forever changed our nation – and set a new course for the way public safety communicates. Today, FirstNet gives first responders an interoperable network available nationwide for communicating every day and in every emergency.

First responders are at the heart of everything we do at the FirstNet Authority. FirstNet is a network built by first responders for first responders. FirstNet has supported public safety in almost every type of emergency or incident, from hurricanes, floods, and tornados to coping with and confronting the COVID-19 pandemic.

From our 2012 founding through today, the FirstNet Authority has collaborated with the public safety community to shape FirstNet to meet first responders’ unique communication needs. We continue to work hand-in-hand with the public safety community to innovate new communication capabilities and keep responders safe and communicating. The lives lost and the lives forever changed on September 11, 2001 are our reasons why. We will never forget.

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Photo of the Tribute in Light at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.

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Photo of the Tribute in Light at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.

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U.S. Department of Commerce Initiates Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Investigations of Imports of Stainless Steel Flanges from China and India

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Deputy Secretary Don Graves Addresses Biden Administration’s Commitment to Economic Recovery and Expanding Broadband Access on Trip to Alaska and Washington

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Joined NOAA’s Project to Revitalize “Salmon Capital of the World,” Urged Businesses to Get Their Employees Vaccinated and Stressed Need for Universal Broadband

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves traveled to Ketchikan and Juneau, Alaska, where he met with businesses and representatives from the local travel and tourism industry and outlined the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to assist in Alaska’s economic recovery, empower the Native Alaskan community, and expand broadband access and adoption across rural and Tribal lands. Deputy Secretary Graves also traveled to Seattle to reiterate the Administration’s commitment to building high-speed broadband infrastructure to reach 100 percent coverage through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. The pandemic demonstrated the critical need for broadband for distance learning, access to telemedicine, and remote work.

Deputy Secretary Graves joined Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan and other Federal, state, and local officials at a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) project to revitalize the agency’s port facility in Ketchikan, Alaska. Ketchikan, also known as the “Salmon Capital of the World,” is heavily reliant on commercial fishing. The construction of the port facility will not only create a dedicated homeport for NOAA’s ship, Fairweather, but will also enable NOAA to support safe navigation and commerce in Alaska and the region more effectively.

Deputy Secretary Graves and Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan at the NOAA Ketchikan Port Facility groundbreaking ceremony.

“Building back better with climate-resilient infrastructure is what this NOAA facility revitalization project is all about,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves. “The investment we are making in partnership with the state of Alaska will help ensure that NOAA can continue to support safe navigation and commerce in Alaska efficiently and effectively for years to come.”

Each day, nearly every American relies on the data, products, and services that the Commerce Department provides through its bureau, NOAA. These include everything from daily weather forecasts and navigational tools to support the country’s nearly $4.6 trillion in economic activity generated by U.S. seaports, to assessments on the health of the nation’s $200 billion fisheries and disaster response. And NOAA tools are essential to enabling safe navigation, ensuring America's economic competitiveness, and protecting the environment.

Following the groundbreaking ceremony, Deputy Secretary Graves joined Senator Sullivan in hosting a roundtable discussion in Ketchikan with representatives from the local travel and tourism industry and addressed efforts to revitalize the Alaska economy in the wake of COVID-19.

Deputy Secretary Graves at a roundtable discussion in Ketchikan with representatives from the local travel and tourism industry.

Deputy Secretary Graves told participants that as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) received $750 million to help states and communities that have suffered an economic injury related to the travel and tourism industry. Deputy Secretary Graves also stressed the Department’s commitment to assisting the Native Alaskan communities by executing economic development projects they need to recover from the pandemic and providing funding for broadband deployment. Earlier this summer, Vice President Kamala Harris, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the availability of nearly $1 billion in U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) grants to expand broadband access and adoption on Tribal land.

Graves also stressed the importance of getting vaccinated and emphasized the fact tourism in Alaska – and across the United States – has bounced back thanks in part to the Administration’s vaccination efforts. Fisheries and tourism are the backbone of the Alaskan economy. This summer, more people have visited Alaska’s National Parks and the first large cruise ship arrived in Ketchikan. Cruise lines bring more than half of Alaska's annual visitors.

“We have seen time and time again how getting vaccines in arms is key to economic recovery, and we encourage Alaska’s businesses to take measures to motivate employees to receive their COVID-19 vaccination,” said Deputy Secretary Graves.

Participants also shared their thoughts on what the Administration can do to accelerate the recovery and long-term growth of the travel and tourism sector. The following day, Deputy Secretary Graves held a similar roundtable with local businesses in Juneau.

Deputy Secretary Graves also had the opportunity to join the recertification of Ketchikan as an official United States Coast Guard City. The Coast Guard has had a presence in Ketchikan since 1918. During his remarks, Deputy Secretary Graves expressed thanks to the Coast Guard for allowing NOAA to temporarily berth their ships on the Coast Guard base for the past 13 years.

Deputy Secretary Graves at the recertification of Ketchikan as an official United States Coast Guard City.

Later that week, Deputy Secretary Graves traveled to Seattle and joined Representative Kim Schrier in a listening session with members of the local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) where they discussed workplace protections and equity in the labor force, as well as the need for a care infrastructure. Graves told participants that, “investing in our care economy is not only good for businesses; it is the right thing to do.”

Deputy Secretary Graves and joined Representative Kim Schrier at a listening session with members of the local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Seattle.

Also with Representative Kim Schrier, Graves also participated in a broadband and education roundtable with at the Snoqualmie Library to discuss the need for students to have access to broadband. Graves and Schrier later toured the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital where they discussed the increasing and vital role of telemedicine and the need for affordable, high-speed broadband to expand access to care. The pandemic further revealed the increasing need for broadband as many more Americans used telemedicine to access healthcare.

Deputy Secretary Graves and Representative Kim Schrier at a tour of the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital where they discussed the increasing and vital role of telemedicine.

At both roundtables, Deputy Secretary Graves stressed that the Biden Administration is committed to creating universal broadband access through a historic expansion of high-speed internet to every American through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, which calls for an investment of $65 billion to make high-speed broadband available to all Americans, to bring down high-speed internet prices across the board, and to close the digital divide.

“Affordable broadband access is something all Americans need and deserve,” said Graves.” “Universal broadband access is critical for a thriving educational system and will allow American schools, businesses, and workers to compete in today’s global economy.”

The following day, Deputy Secretary Graves joined Representative Pramila Jayapal in touring NOAA’s new research vessel and seeing first-hand how investments in NOAA ships can create jobs and support local economies and supply chains.

Deputy Secretary Graves and Representative Pramila Jayapal at a tour of NOAA’s new research vessel.

Deputy Secretary Graves also toured the Port of Seattle and the Terminal 5 project and hosted a roundtable with local trade and export representatives. He addressed how trade will be an important part of the global recovery from COVID-19 and explained how trade promotion is at the top of the Commerce priorities and plays a critical role in ensuring American competitiveness and economic growth.

Deputy Secretary Graves at a tour of the Port of Seattle and the Terminal 5 project.

“Secretary Raimondo and I will bring a whole of Commerce approach focused on three priority areas to help businesses get back on their feet and so that millions of Americans can get back to work.”

The three areas include promoting equitable economic growth by eliminating barriers to trade, assisting the travel and tourism industry with funding allocated to Commerce’s Economic Development Administration through the American Rescue Plan, and creating a National Export Strategy to help American businesses reach customers in fast-growing markets abroad, to help generate the demand needed for job creation, and to position our economy for a strong recovery.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Deputy Secretary Graves joined Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan and other Federal, state, and local officials at a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) project.

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Deputy Secretary Graves joined Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan and other Federal, state, and local officials at a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) project in Ketchikan, Alaska.

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U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Affirmative Preliminary Countervailing Duty Determination on Imports of 100- to 150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft From Canada

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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Addresses Importance of Building a Shared Digital Future at Tallinn Digital Summit 

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Last week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo participated in the Tallinn Digital Summit and addressed the importance of building a shared digital future by establishing a framework for trusted connectivity. Secretary Raimondo is the first senior official from the Biden Administration to visit Estonia and the first Cabinet-level official to visit since 2019.

Secretary Raimondo also held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. She also met with Estonian Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets and Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Andres Sutt.  During each meeting, she emphasized the strong partnership between the U.S. and Estonia, especially on issues related to digital development and shared efforts to support global economic growth, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis.

During her keynote address at the Tallinn Digital Summit, Secretary Raimondo addressed the need to develop a global economy that emphasizes a shared digital infrastructure, including affordable access to high-speed broadband. Secretary Raimondo also praised the Government of Estonia as a model for global digital transformation providing almost all its government services to citizens and residents online.

“The creativity and skills that underpin Estonia’s transformation into a global tech powerhouse are exactly what we need to address the dangerous infrastructure investment gap facing low- and middle-income countries,” said Secretary Raimondo.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo gives keynote address at the Tallinn Digital Summit.

She also highlighted the role that initiatives such as the Build Back Better World Partnership (B3W) can play in closing the infrastructure and connectivity gap, and how the global community must come together to bridge differences and implement mutually beneficial solutions.

“At President Biden’s direction, we are leading the effort, along with our G7 partners and the EU, to close this gap across a range of areas – including healthcare and digital technology – through the Build Back Better World (B3W) Partnership.”

During her remarks, Secretary Raimondo also addressed data flows and stressed that Governments need cross-border data for trade and commercial relationships, financial market stability, public health, criminal investigations, and national security.

At the end of the day, Secretary Raimondo participated in a panel discussion with several Government of Estonia officials along with representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at panel discussion with Government of Estonia officials and representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission.

"The core aim of the B3W Partnership will be to offer local communities in low- and middle-income countries help to build infrastructure needed to prosper in the 21st century.”

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo gives keynote address at the Tallinn Digital Summit. 

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo gives keynote address at the Tallinn Digital Summit.

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Residential Propane Price Analysis 2006 

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Congressman Josh Gottheimer Visit North Jersey Small Business, Push for Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

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The following is a cross-post from U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5)

Today, September 20, 2021, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) welcomed U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to New Jersey’s Fifth District, where they visited small businesses in Glen Rock and highlighted how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will benefit small businesses, families, and create jobs across North Jersey.

Congressman Gottheimer and Secretary Raimondo began their tour at Suka Jewelry’s flagship store in Glen Rock, which is woman- and minority-owned and features jewelry from local artisans that use ethically-sourced materials. Gottheimer and Raimondo also visited Merve’s Kitchen and Bakery, a popular Bergen County pastry shop that is also woman-owned, and Carrick Mor Irish Store, a six-year-old gift shop that specializes in artwork, apparel, and pottery sourced from Ireland. They concluded their tour of Glen Rock at the local favorite, John’s Boy Pizzeria, to grab a slice.

Glen Rock Mayor Kristine Morieko, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Congressman Josh Gottheimer, and Glen Rock Council President Mary Barchetto at John’s Boy Pizzeria.

Gottheimer and Raimondo spoke with each business owner about how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will address major infrastructure needs within the North Jersey community — from repairing roads, bridges, rails, and tunnels, to investing in broadband, combating lead water, and fighting climate change.

“The Secretary, Mayor, and I spent this morning touring small businesses in downtown Glen Rock, just a stone’s throw from the train station, where moms and dads commute to work every day,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer. “The message we heard was loud and clear: fixing our crumbling infrastructure — our roads, bridges, rails, and tunnels, and investing in broadband, and fighting climate change, like those recent floods, is key to their success, and to Jersey’s.”

"When President Biden came into office, he said he wanted to reach across the aisle and get things done for the American people. That's exactly what we've been doing since we got into office,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “As Congressman Gottheimer has said, we have an opportunity right now to do something historic and pass a trillion dollar Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that will create millions of jobs, ensure every single American has access to high quality, high-speed affordable broadband, and ensure that communities like yours here in Bergen County and Glen Rock have the funding necessary for transit and climate-resilient infrastructure. This infrastructure package is a huge step forward for America, and your Congressman, Congressman Gottheimer, has been a leader in that effort.”

Congressman Gottheimer and Secretary Raimondo were also joined by Glen Rock Mayor Kristine Morieko, Glen Rock Council President Mary Barchetto, NJ Assemblywoman Lisa Swain, Bergen County Commissioner and President of Bergen County Building and Construction Trades Council Tom Sullivan, Bergen County Clerk John Hogan, Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton, and Bergen County Commissioners Mary J. Amoroso, Ramon Hache, and Tracy Silna Zur.

Watch the press conference here.

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo with Congressman Gottheimer and local elected leaders.

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo with Congressman Gottheimer and local elected leaders.

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Residential Propane Price Analysis 2006 