Blog
From Department of Commerce Blog
May 17, 2013 - 4:10pm
Exports are critical to supporting American jobs and helping U.S.
businesses grow. Increasing international trade is one of the Commerce
Department’s top priorities. U.S. Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank
wraps up her week-long Latin American trade mission in Panama this week which
highlighted the importance of the bilateral trade relationship between the two
countries. In her remarks before the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Panama today, Acting Secretary
Blank marked the success of the U.S. Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA),
From Department of Commerce Blog
May 17, 2013 - 3:10pm
As
a part of her trade mission to Brazil, Colombia, and Panama this week, Acting
Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank met today with Jorge Quijano, Panama Canal
Administrator, and Roberto Roy, President of the Panama Canal Board and the
Panama City Subway, to discuss the Panama Canal Expansion Project and
infrastructure spending related to Panama City’s Metro Rail Project. These
meetings aim to strengthen longstanding U.S.-Panama ties by promoting greater cooperation between the two countries
on infrastructure development.
Panama is a longstanding friend and ally to the United States, and
From Department of Commerce Blog
May 16, 2013 - 3:30pm
On the heels of Travel and Tourism Week, Acting
Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank visited the Consular Section at the U.S.
Embassy in Colombia today as part of the trade mission she is leading this week
to Brazil, Colombia, and Panama.
Currently, the U.S. consular section in Colombia is the
sixth busiest worldwide by volume of visa applicants. So far this year, the
record for one day processing was 3,001 applicants—the highest in the world for
that day. On average, the Consular Section at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia
From Small Business Administration Blog
May 16, 2013 - 3:24pm
Did you know that the world’s population already surpasses 7 billion?
Did you know that more than 95 percent of the world’s consumers live outside the United States?
U.S. exports of goods and services accounted for 14 percent of the national GDP in 2008 and climbed to 14 percent in 2012. These numbers show the growing role exports are playing in our nation’s economic recovery.
From Small Business Administration Blog
May 16, 2013 - 3:06pm
NOTE: This blog is by Pravina Raghavan, Director, Innovation and Technology at SBA.
From Department of Commerce Blog
May 16, 2013 - 2:45pm
Acting Secretary
Blank Supports U.S. Companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts Abroad
Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca
Blank visited Bogotá, Colombia, today, to see how a U.S.-based company is
helping to promote corporate social responsibility in
a country where it does business.
In 2007, the world’s largest
software company Microsoft joined forces with the nonprofit Trust for the
Americas, the nonprofit Centro Laudes Infantis and
the local government to create “Mi Llave,” a program designed specifically to
increase computer literacy. The centers, including one that Acting
From Department of Commerce Blog
May 16, 2013 - 2:30pm
Autodesk Promotes Increasing
Infrastructure Investment and Use of Technology During Latin America Trade
Mission
Guest Blog Post by Amar Hanspal, Senior Vice
President of Information Modeling products, Autodesk Inc.
Ed note: Autodesk is a $2 billion design and
engineering firm with tens of millions of customers around the world.
Autodesk’s portfolio of software empowers organizations of all sizes, creative
visionaries, students and consumers to conceptualize, analyze, simulate and
communicate their ideas and make them real. Autodesk’s software has been used
From Small Business Administration Blog
May 16, 2013 - 7:44am
Did you give your business a spring clean this year? Are you looking for new ways to boost sales, build your brand or get your business plan back on track?
This is the topic of one of SBA’s monthly web chats – Small Business Spring Clean: How to Keep Your Business Ideas Fresh – hosted by Octavia Kuransky, Program Development Manager at Central Alabama Women’s Business Center (and archived on SBA’s Learning Center).
Check out some of these great suggestions from Octavia’s session and be inspired!
Q: When should a small business website be updated?
From Department of Commerce Blog
May 15, 2013 - 5:20pm
One of the Commerce Department’s top priorities is to strengthen the economic ties between the United States and our trading partners.
From Department of Commerce Blog
May 15, 2013 - 4:30pm
Guest post by John C. Robak, Executive Vice President
& Chief Operating Officer, Greeley and HansenED Note: Greeley and Hansen is a global leader in developing innovative engineering, architecture, and management solutions for a wide array of complex water, wastewater, and water-related infrastructure challenges. The firm has built upon nearly 100 years of proven civil and environmental engineering experience in all phases of project development and implementation to become a premier provider of comprehensive services in the water and wastewater sectors.