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The Honorable Gary F.
Locke, Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce, speaks during
the afternoon general session at The National Summit,
convened by the Detroit Economic Club, in Detroit Tuesday,
June 16, 2009. (Photo By Jeff Kowalsky) |
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U.S.
COMMERCE
SECRETARY
GARY
LOCKE
ANNOUNCES
ADMINISTRATION’S
NEW
INITIATIVE
TO AID
AMERICAN
BUSINESSES
Program
to be
launched
in the
Detroit
area
DETROIT,
MI –
U.S.
Commerce
Secretary
Gary
Locke
today
announced
a new
Obama
Administration
initiative
designed
to
streamline
government
bureaucracy
and
bring
services
and
solutions
directly
to
businesses
and
entrepreneurs
creating
and
sustaining
jobs.
Locke
made his
announcement
at the
Detroit
Economic
Club’s
National
Summit.
The new
initiative
will be
launched
this
summer
in the
Detroit
area.
Responding
both to
President
Obama’s
call to
make
government
more
responsive
and a
once-in-a-generation
economic
crisis,
Locke
initiated
the
effort
after
seeing
how
complicated
it can
be to
navigate
the
alphabet
soup of
Commerce
agencies
and
programs.
In the
coming
weeks,
the
department
will
dispatch
a team
of
Commerce
experts
to begin
preparing
the
launch
of the
initiative.
The team
will
consist
of
representatives
who have
been
cross
trained
on the
wide
breadth
of
programs
and
activities
that the
Commerce
Department
and its
bureaus
have to
offer,
programs
that can
assist a
business
at
nearly
every
point of
its life
cycle,
whether
just
getting
off the
ground
or
looking
to
expand
into
overseas
markets.
“The
Department
of
Commerce
is
singularly
equipped
to help
American
businesses
grow and
create
jobs.”
Locke
said.
“This
new
initiative
will
provide
a single
point of
contact
for
every
Commerce
program
available
to
business
owners
and will
work
with
state
and
local
agencies,
academia,
labor
and
other
key
stakeholders
to
provide
a
unified,
integrated
resource
to grow
and
sustain
jobs.”
Locke
tapped
the
director
of the
Department’s
successful
Manufacturing
Extension
Partnership,
Roger
Kilmer,
to lead
the
effort.
Kilmer
will be
responsible
for
staffing
the new
initiative
with an
interdisciplinary
team
from
across
Commerce’s
varied
agencies.
(In
fiscal
year
2007
alone,
the
Manufacturing
Extension
Partnership
helped
create
over $5
billion
in new
sales
for
partner
businesses.)
Kilmer’s
goal is
to
unveil
by the
end of
the
summer a
brick
and
mortar
“one-stop”
office
in the
Detroit
area,
making
more
accessible
services
offered
by
Commerce’s
Patent
and
Trademark
Office,
Minority
Business
Development
Administration,
National
Institute
of
Standards
and
Technology
and
International
Trade
Administration,
among
others.
“Main
Street
businesses
shouldn’t
have to
hire
their
own
consultant
to
navigate
the
federal
bureaucracy
to get
them the
very
assistance
their
tax
dollars
help
support,”
Locke
said.
“The
Commerce
Department
has
tools to
help
companies.
It’s
long
past
time we
made it
easier
for them
to
access
those
resources.”
The
on-the-ground
experts
will be
responsible
for
assessing
a
business’
full
spectrum
of
needs,
whether
it's
access
to
capital,
intellectual
property
protection,
export
promotion
or
guidance
on how
to make
operations
more
efficient.
They
will be
a
partner
for
Detroit
area
business
owners,
allowing
them to
leverage
several
different
federal
programs
at once
to help
companies
grow and
create
jobs.
Locke
also
said he
would
look to
partner
with
additional
federal
agencies
as the
initiative
progresses
and look
for new
opportunities
to cut
red
tape.
“If the
Detroit
pilot
program
is
successful
– and we
are
confident
it will
be –
then
Commerce
will
begin
opening
other
“one-stop”
offices
throughout
the
Midwest
and
across
the
country,”
Locke
said.
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