At the U.S. Department of Commerce, we have witnessed first-hand the power of broadband to drive economic growth and innovation, open up new employment opportunities for Americans across the income spectrum and expand access to everything from education to healthcare to government services.

That’s why we see investing in broadband – and digital inclusion – as a critical part of our ongoing push to sustain the economic recovery and build the critical infrastructure that our nation needs to remain competitive in the 21st century. A top priority of the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration is to work with communities across the country to ensure that all their citizens have access to high-speed Internet connectivity and the skills to use it to improve their lives.

Building on the Administration’s efforts to close the digital divide, the White House today announced a new interagency working group – called the Broadband Opportunity Council – to promote broadband investment and coordinate broadband policy across the federal government. The council will include representatives from 25 federal agencies and departments, and will be co-chaired by the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Agriculture. NTIA will spearhead work on the new program for the Commerce Department.

The Broadband Opportunity Council is the latest initiative in the Administration’s push to increase investment in our nation’s critical infrastructure, including roads, bridges, ports, drinking water and sewer systems and, of course, broadband networks.

A key mandate of the new council will be to survey government agencies to create a comprehensive inventory of federal programs, including federal funding options, that are currently available to support broadband or could be modified to do so. The council will also examine existing government policies and regulations, including permitting requirements and rights-of-way restrictions, to recommend changes to remove barriers to investment.

In addition, the council will solicit input from local officials, industry leaders and other stakeholders on ways that the federal government can incentivize broadband investment, drive competition and remove regulatory and policy barriers at the community level.

The Broadband Opportunity Council will complement the work of NTIA’s BroadbandUSA program, which is providing support to communities across the country seeking to expand broadband capacity and utilization. The BroadbandUSA initiative – highlighted byPresident Obama at an event in Iowa in January – builds on lessons learned and best practices from NTIA’s successful Recovery Actbroadband grant programs. Those programs have invested more than $4 billion in network infrastructure, public computer centers, digital literacy training and broadband mapping over the past six years. As of the second quarter of 2014, NTIA-funded projects had built or upgraded 113,500 miles of fiber and fixed wireless connections, hooked up 25,300 schools, libraries and other anchor institutions, and produced 671,600 new household broadband subscriptions.

Guest Blog Post by Jim Corkery, President of ACS

Recently I had the opportunity to meet Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and several US Senators and Representatives to talk about global trade. I strongly support the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation and want to share my views on how ACS has directly benefited from global trade.

We are an organization offering engineering, equipment fabrication and construction management solutions to companies who develop and test engines and vehicles for worldwide distribution. Our office employees are highly skilled college graduates, most with engineering and advanced engineering degrees, and our manufacturing employees have specialized skilled trades expertise.  Although we have fewer than 150 employees, the global nature of business today means we have offices in Wisconsin, Michigan and South Carolina as well as in the UK and China.   Getting the rules of international trade right is not just theory for my company; it will help accelerate our growth.

The first way we benefit from global trade is when our US-based clients develop products for sale globally – we benefit through contracts to design and construct our clients’ R&D/Manufacturing centers here in the U.S.  These opportunities allow ACS to hire more engineering, manufacturing and support employees to accomplish this work. For example, we recently contracted with Cummins to design and build their R&D and Manufacturing test facilities for a new High Horsepower engine to be designed and manufactured in Seymour, Indiana. This facility serves as the global headquarters for the design and manufacture of this new engine with exports forecasted to be 80% of overall sales.

We have also had opportunities to design and construct international R&D/Manufacturing centers for our US-based clients. Typically we provide preliminary design in the US and then travel to the project countries to oversee final design and construction by local designers and contractors. We have designed and built laboratories for Caterpillar in the US, England, Northern Ireland and China, for Whirlpool in the US, Mexico, Poland and China, for John Deere in the US and Mexico, and for Cummins in the US, England, Romania and China.

There is no time like the present to invest in the United States. In fact, the U.S. is rated #1 in the latest A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index for the second year in a row, with the highest net positive rating in the index’s 16-year history. 

With an incredibly attractive consumer market, a thriving culture of innovation, and the most productive workforce, the U.S. has shown itself to be an economic powerhouse. Companies of all sizes – big or small, startup or multinational– can benefit from the ideas, resources, and markets the U.S. offers in order to become a globally competitive nation. Because of these reasons, the U.S. proudly welcomes international investment. 

When deciding to invest in the U.S., firms can look at five factors: 

1. Market: The U.S. is home to the most attractive consumer market and serves as a competitive export hub to the rest of the world. Free trade agreements with 20 nations give U.S.-based exporters better access to markets with more potential consumers.
2. Economic Growth: During 2013 to 2014, Real GDP grew at a 2.8 percent annual pace. The private sector successfully expands with the longest streak on record for job growth.
3. Business-Friendly Environment: The U.S. offers a transparent, fair and stable business environment and thriving capital markets to support developing companies.
4. Innovation: As a world leader in research and development (R&D) and intellectual property protection, the U.S. provides a productive environment for innovation. Firms can improve their competitiveness by associating with research institutions and employing leading-edge manufacturing techniques.
5. Resources: There is a manufacturing renaissance occurring due to the diversified resources, low cost energy and a well-educated workforce. 

These compelling factors and more will be on display at the 2015 SelectUSA Summit next week.   The two-day Summit, March 23-24, is the premier event for those considering an investment. The event will feature nearly 600 representatives from nearly every state and territory, providing ample opportunity for investors to find the information needed to make investment decisions and connect with the right people at the domestic level. Many states, territories, cities, and regions are also hosting booths in the Summit exhibition hall to connect directly with investors.

All year round, SelectUSA coordinates federal agencies to address investor concerns relating to federal regulations. This year, representatives from 20 federal agencies will be on-site at a U.S. Government Pavilion in the Summit exhibition hall to meet face to face with investors, as well as state and local representatives. 

The Summit is at capacity with more than 2,600 people registered from more than 70 markets, doubling the size of the inaugural event in 2013. President Barack Obama will give the keynote address on the first day.  Other Administration officials delivering remarks include Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of the Treasury Jacob J. Lew, Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. Some of the world's top CEOs will be there to discuss the advantages of investing in America and the jobs it creates. Among the executives speaking at the event will be Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, and David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, the world’s largest equity firm.

Guest blog post by Sue Helper, U.S. Department of Commerce, Chief Economist

It’s springtime, and during this season of growth and renewal another important renaissance is underway: a remarkable resurgence in American manufacturing.  Powering this growth are the small- and medium-sized businesses that comprise the U.S. manufacturing supply chain. 

President Obama in his State of the Union address earlier this year committed to supporting these small businesses.  This week, in Cleveland, OH, he made good on that promise, announcing a series of key manufacturing initiatives.  Additionally, a new White House-Department of Commerce report was released that examines the importance of reinvesting in America’s supply chain to enable innovation.  The report, “Supply Chain Innovation: Strengthening America’s Small Manufacturers,” identifies potential barriers as well as solutions – laying the path toward sustained manufacturing growth and strength, at home and abroad, now and into the future.

As described in our report, the resurgence in manufacturing has seen the addition of 877,000 jobs added since February 2010. Small firms play an increasingly important role in U.S. manufacturing, and now account for almost half of America’s manufacturing employment. Dense networks of these small manufacturers are vital to the process of taking a product from concept to market, and sharing manufacturing expertise along the supply chain is essential for the diffusion of the new products and innovative processes that give U.S. manufacturing its cutting edge. 

However, these small firms face barriers to innovation, a key element in strengthening U.S. competitiveness. While firms with fewer than 500 employees comprise 98 percent of all manufacturing firms, together they account for less than one-third of private-sector research and development (R&D) spending in manufacturing.  And because of these barriers to innovation, in their operations, small manufacturers are less than 60 percent as productive as their larger peers. Moreover, lack of innovative capability impacts small suppliers’ customers: the quality of end products is compromised and it takes longer for innovative technologies to get to market.

Customer firms have a critical role to play in cultivating the capabilities of small firms in their supply chains and encouraging fruitful cross-pollination of expertise across firms.  However, larger firms often under-invest in their suppliers because they fear improvements they pay for may end up benefitting their competitors, and because of conflicting internal goals.