July 2011 Newsletter
Matthew Chase has served as the Executive Director of the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) and the NADO Research Foundation since October 2003. Chase has extensive advocacy experience with federal, community, economic, and rural development programs, including successful campaigns to reauthorize the Economic Development Administration (EDA) in 1998 and 2004, establish the Delta Regional Authority in the early 2000s, and preserve annual funding for core rural development programs under USDA.
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July 2011 Newsletter
News of the activities of large American firms during the current era of economy recovery has communicated stark realties to everyone from policymakers in Washington to many Americans searching for better employment opportunities. A recent Commerce Department report shows that American companies laid off 2.9 million workers, while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million. A prime example is that of General Electric. In a recent spotlight, it was revealed that nearly half of its workforce is located overseas and this ostensibly American firm is contributing much less than what was perceived to the tax base of the U.S. The Kauffman Foundation's Research Series on Firm Formation and Economic Growth indicated that for all but seven years between 1977 and 2005, existing firms have been net job destroyers, losing 1 million net jobs per year. By contrast, in their first year, new firms add an average of 3 million jobs, according to this study.
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by Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality
July 2011 Newsletter
Throughout America, even in this difficult economic environment, there are examples of innovation and entrepreneurship that inspire us with their creativity and success. I came across one of these places recently at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in (not surprisingly) Brooklyn, New York, a former shipyard that is now a thriving urban industrial park. There, a small manufacturer named IceStone has capitalized on the demand for safe and sustainable products by creating countertops and surfaces from 100 percent recycled glass, diverting hundreds of tons of glass from landfills each year. In doing so, they've created more than 40 good jobs in a day lit facility and sustainable work environment that their workers feel good about.
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July 2011 Newsletter
On June 15, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced a new government-wide initiative that will help remove federal investment barriers in support of a stronger economy and new jobs. This initiative is the first coordinated federal effort to aggressively pursue and win new business investment in the United States. Created by Executive Order, SelectUSA will be housed at the U.S. Department of Commerce and online at www.SelectUSA.gov. It will also highlight why the United States is the premier place to do business globally and help attract business operations to the U.S., spurring economic growth and job creation.
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July 2011 Newsletter
The Commerce Department’s Economics and Statistics Administration released a report summarizing recent foreign investment in the U.S. that identified several opportunities for growth. The report shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States over the past decade has supported more than 5 million U.S. jobs that, on average, paid 30 percent more than other jobs. The findings, presented in a new ESA report entitled “Foreign Direct Investment in the United States,” point the way toward policies that could expand the number of foreign partners investing in the United States and, in so doing, create more high-paying U.S. jobs.
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