The White House Supply Chain Innovation Roundtable brought together leaders from two dozen manufacturers committed to strengthening small manufacturers in their domestic supply chains. Secretary Penny Pritzker emphasized the importance of the gathering, noting, “We have a window of opportunity right now to rebuild a competitive manufacturing sector in this country by strengthening manufacturing ecosystems, and widening the lines of communication between small and large suppliers.” She pointed out that “We, in government, can be a key partner in addressing these needs”, and spoke about two ways the Commerce Department  works to strengthen supply chain innovation.

The U.S. Commercial Service is the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration; thus, our new officers will use their unique skills to match U.S. companies with foreign partners, reduce trade barriers, fight intellectual property rights violations, and attract investment to America’s shores.

The Obama Administration recognizes the vital importance of supporting innovation, and the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has been at the forefront of those efforts through its Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The Council’s job is to advise the Department of Commerce and the Obama Administration on how to expand trade and investment opportunities for U.S. firms in Africa and create opportunities for African companies that want to do business in America. To meet this charge, the Council has focused on four key areas.

In fact, 5 million jobs are unfilled today because skilled workers are not available to fill them. That’s a challenge U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker is tackling head-on. “One of the things that is really important for us to be doing is making sure that we’re training people for the jobs that exist today,” she told Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric when the pair visited a school in New York that focuses on job-driven training skills in computer programming.

ITA’s Report on U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment examines the economic statistics related to U.S. commercial involvement in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) – one of the world’s fastest-growing economic regions. The report is part of the Doing Business in Africa (DBIA) campaign, through which federal trade agencies are joining forces with U.S. businesses to take advantage of the growing export and investment opportunities available in the region. Here are the five key takeaways of the report:

The Environment pillar of the Strategic Plan calls for advancing the understanding and prediction of changes in the environment through world class science and observations; improving preparedness, response, and recovery from weather and water events by building a Weather-Ready Nation; strengthening the resiliency of communities and regions by delivering targeted services to build capacity; fostering healthy and sustainable marine resources, habitats, and ecosystems through improved management and partnerships; and enabling U.S. businesses to adapt and prosper by developing environmental and climate-informed solutions.

Exporting has saved up to 30 jobs within AEV since 2012. AEV hopes to expand its production, which would result in an additional 30 new jobs created. For this rural-based firm, the U.S.-Chilean trade agreements allow for mutually beneficial sales and increased employment opportunities.

As global leader in power and automation technologies, ABB’s investment in Michigan demonstrates their commitment to the U.S. market and is a strong signal that America has the most attractive investment climate in the world.

The roundtable was hosted by the World Art Group, a small business in Richmond that understands the importance of exports firsthand. World Art Group has been producing wall décor for more than 40 years. They now ship their goods to more than 30 countries, including China, Korea, Singapore, Australia and Japan. However, the company faces tariffs as high as 20 percent in certain Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries, such as Malaysia and Vietnam, and elsewhere around the world.  These tariffs impede the company’s competitiveness and ability to sell in key markets. World Art Group is a prime example of why reaching new agreements that reduce trade barriers is necessary for local businesses to reach some of the fastest-growing markets around the world.

"As a kid growing up in Berlin, Connecticut, I remember excitedly phoning a friend a down the street to tell him my dad and I were about to “call” him on our modem. I also remember my profound embarrassment when my dad asked a bunch of my middle school friends if we wanted to build a map on the computer. My face turned red because I wanted to be cool and back then building maps to tell a story was not the route to cool. But in my own time, I spent hours in my room sometimes playing video games, but more often exploring, breaking and fixing the computer -- programming wrong and then doing it right. I thank my dad for teaching me to be fearless when it came to exploring technology, because if I ‘broke’ something, there was always a way to fix it later."

For instance, investing in Africa will support 2,500 jobs in Pennsylvania for employees of GE Transportation, who will manufacture 293 locomotives for Transnet in South Africa. At the Forum, IBM and Ghana’s Fidelity Bank signed a five-year deal for the provision of IT services. This deal highlights a key facet of our two-way relationship: that when African businesses grow, they deploy American expertise, purchase American technologies, and learn from our best practices. These types of deals demonstrate that when we work together as partners, in a spirit of mutual understanding and respect, we can raise standards of living for all of our nations and address the challenges that impede our ability to develop closer economic bonds.