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Commerce Department Making Skills a Top Priority

November 14, 2013
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Fresh off a nationwide listening tour and against the backdrop of 1776, a global hub for startups in Washington, D.C., U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker unveiled the department's strategic vision and priorities focused on three key areas: trade, innovation and data. Pritzker said her department will make sure businesses have a strong voice when it comes to strengthening the digital economy by working to protect intellectual property, ensuring robust cybersecurity infrastructure and championing free and open Internet. In the coming months, Commerce will develop a coordinated approach to those policies that affect businesses.

The secretary also praised the work being done by the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) to align regional assets in support of emerging technologies. She warned, however, of a skills mismatch reported by CEOs across the country that threatens to hinder U.S. leadership in the innovation economy. Making skills a top priority, Pritzker announced a unified effort among the White House and the departments of Commerce, Labor and Education to better align funding for workforce development to support demand-driven skills training. Under the effort, Commerce will emphasize industry-led training when funding state-level partners who work with manufacturers under the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). Those partners' outcomes will be tracked to share best practices throughout the network, Pritzker said.

Additionally, the Economic Development Administration will encourage grant applicants to incorporate local workforce needs in their proposals. To help gather ideas on the best ways to equip workers for jobs available in high-demand industries, Commerce plans to engage the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepereneurship.

Pritzker also spoke about the need to work with industry to make more federal data standardized and easier to use for businesses.

View the video announcement: http://new.livestream.com/uspto/events/2544205.

dept of commerce, workforce