Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Launches Twitter Account

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has launched a Twitter account in an effort to connect with Americans from all walks of life, especially U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs that use the microblogging service.

“Really excited to start tweeting! Innovation is the growth engine of the American economy & this is a great place to talk about that,” Locke's first tweet, from the Inc. 500/5000 conference, read.

At the conference, attended yesterday by representatives of successful start-up businesses, Locke also announced the Commerce Department's new Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

With an estimated five million users worldwide, Twitter will give Locke the opportunity to talk directly with Americans about the work the Commerce Department is doing to help create jobs here at home and make U.S. companies more competitive in the global economy.

Today, Locke will be tweeting from an event on innovation and the Recovery Act he is attending in Bethlehem, Pa., with White House Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra.

To follow Locke on Twitter, please visit http://twitter.com/amblocke.