For Immediate Release: June 7, 2010
Contact: Cory Churches (202) 482-3809
Obama Official Says Revitalizing American manufacturing is National Priority
Commerce Assistant Secretary Lamb-Hale Focuses on Job Growth for Manufacturers in Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and Services Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale today said the revitalization of manufacturing is a matter of national urgency and that manufacturing engineers will play a critical role in retooling American manufacturing and creating jobs. She noted that President Obama’s National Export Initiative (NEI) will help manufacturers remove barriers that prevent U.S. companies from getting free and open access to foreign markets.
“Much of our ingenuity and competitiveness now manifests itself at the intersection of the manufacturing and services sectors. Engineers and other manufacturing professionals occupy the space where the sectors overlap and so you exist at the core of how we retool and remake American manufacturing,” Lamb-Hale told attendees at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers annual conference. “Manufacturing engineers spearhead product and process design and innovation. In today’s more sophisticated world, these contributions add inestimable value to our economy.”
The United States is the world’s largest manufacturing economy, producing $1.6 trillion in manufactured products— 22 percent of the world’s manufactured goods— employing nearly 12 million Americans.
Exports of U.S. manufactured products accounted for 81 percent of all U.S. exports of goods in the first quarter of 2010. Manufactured goods exports in March were 19 percent higher than the previous month, illustrating the value of a strong manufacturing sector to support the recovering economy and to achieve the NEI’s goal to double exports in five years to support 2 million jobs.
“Manufacturing and Services’ mission is three-fold: convening, connecting and collaborating,” said Lamb-Hale. “We convene experts to develop solutions to problems faced by U.S. industry and connect industry to resources within state and federal government to forge a path to sustainable, highly skilled jobs for the 21st century economy.”
Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) is the premier resource for American companies competing in the global marketplace and a leader in implementing the NEI, which provides more funding, more focus and, more coordination to increase U.S. exports. ITA’s efforts include increasing trade missions and reverse trade missions, and expediting financial assistance awards through the Market Development Cooperator Program for foreign market development.
For more information, visit www.trade.gov.
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International Trade Administration
The International Trade Administration (ITA) is the premier resource for American companies competing in the global marketplace. ITA has 2,100 employees assisting U.S. exporters in more than 100 U.S. cities and 77 countries worldwide. For more information on ITA visit www.trade.gov.
The International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, manages this global trade site to provide access to ITA information on promoting trade and investment, strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. industry, and ensuring fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein. This site contains PDF documents. A PDF reader is available from Adobe Systems Incorporated.