Press Room March 2012

MBDA National Director David A. Hinson
AS DELIVERED
Tuesday, February 21, 2012

CONTACT OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE, EDUCATION & INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
202-482-6272

Thank you Bridget for that kind introduction.  Good morning. On behalf of President Barack Obama and Secretary of Commerce John Bryson, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the opening of our newest MBDA Business Center – The MBDA Federal Procurement Center

We are fortunate to have several members of congress with us today who have been leaders in supporting job growth through the minority business community….. a community that adds over $1 trillion dollars of economic output to the US Economy and directly and indirectly accounts for over 16 million jobs.

Please give a warm round of applause for: Congressman Chaka Fatah, from Pennsylvania and Congressman Steve Cohen, from Tennessee.  We may be joined a little later by Congressman Bobby Schilling from Illinois and a good friend of MBDA, Congresswoman Judy Chu from California

MBDA National Director David A. Hinson
As Delivered

On behalf of President Barack Obama and Secretary John Bryson, I am delighted to be here at this the 26th Annual Reservation Economic Summit. I want to thank your leaders, Margo Gray-Proctor and President Davis, the Board of Directors and Tribal leaders for inviting me to speak to you today. NCAIED enjoys a strong relationship with the U.S. Department of Commerce and my Agency, the Minority Business Development Agency, and we look forward to continuing to grow this relationship as we work together to expand the export capability of Indian Country and create new jobs.

Before I start, I would like to introduce some members of the Department of Commerce.  You’ll be hearing from them on panels and I hope you’ll have a chance to speak with them during the conference.  With us are: Dee Ann Alexander, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce for Native American Affairs; Holden Hoofnagle, Chief for Business Development at MBDA; Salvador Enriquez, who is chief of our West Coast Region; George Mui, Global business consultant; JoAnn Hill our head of MED Week; and Otis Turner, Senior Business Development Specialist out of our San Francisco office.

The Obama Administration today announced a $15 million multi-agency Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator challenge to spur job creation and economic growth in distressed rural communities. This competition, which is being funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), was designed by the Taskforce for the Advancement of Regional Innovation Clusters and the White House Rural Council.

President Obama recently announced the challenge as part of the Administration's "We Can't Wait" efforts to strengthen the economy, create jobs and support business growth, particularly expanding opportunity for rural Americans and supporting new and innovative businesses nationwide.

U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson delivered remarks at 2012 Executive Council Winter Session of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the oldest and largest national representative of Tribal Nations in the United States. Bryson spoke about Commerce Department initiatives to promote exports, job creation and infrastructure in Indian Country. 

This administration is proud to partner with NCAI in the effort to forge new links between government and Indian country on behalf of Native American communities. At the Commerce Department, we have a host of programs where Commerce and Native American communities are working together to bring jobs and opportunities to Indian country: