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Celebrating Two Years of the President’s National Export Initiative

March 11 marked the second anniversary of President Obama’s Executive Order 13534 which created the National Export Initiative (NEI).  The President’s goal of doubling exports by the end of 2014 is on track, with exports increasing almost 16% last year to $2.1 trillion.  Although the bar seemed high at the outset, the focused efforts of the Obama Administration through the National Export Council – which includes the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, Labor, Energy, Agriculture, Treasury, the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, as well as congressional and business leaders – is delivering.  At the Export-Import Bank last year, for example, financing authorizations for exports grew 34% to $32 billion, with 85% of transactions to small and medium sized enterprises.

This is good news for all Americans because with exports come jobs and a more balanced economy based not only on domestic consumption but also on sales of products and services overseas since 95% of customers are outside our shores.  And it is also good news specifically for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).  Minority-owned firms are twice as likely to export, and we are seeing their success in communities across the country.  In New York City, Los Angeles and Houston where there are high concentrations of AAPIs, exporting is up more than 20%. 

When I spoke on February 28 to the Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Association of Washington, I met many of their members who have led Washington to become the most export-driven State in the U.S.  The audience was a slice of America – a labor leader from Boeing, exporting farmers, small businesspersons, international bankers, the President of the African Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest, state economic development officers, and attorneys, among many others.  All were interested in the NEI success and eager to trade updates on Asian export markets.  The sentiment was much the same at two other February meetings with the Indonesian-American Association and with the San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. 

As the Obama Administration observes the anniversary of the NEI, opportunities for AAPIs could not be better, whether we are working in exporting, education, diplomacy and government, or the professions that support the NEI.   Since NEI’s launch in 2010, the Obama Administration has done an outstanding job leading policy as well as outreach initiatives to the AAPI community.  Congratulations and thanks to all those who through NEI are building bridges not only of trade but also of friendship.

Patricia M. Loui was appointed by President Obama to serve on the Board of Directors of The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. 

White House Summit Spurs Government-Community Connection in Philadelphia

Ed note: This has been cross-posted from the United States Department of Labor blog.

I had the privilege of being one of hundreds of leaders from more than 250 entities—representing government, education, private industry and community-based organizations—that took part in the second White House Community Partnership Summit at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia last Friday. 

With 12 planned across the country, these summits connect administration officials and federal agency staff from diverse policy areas with community participants to discuss issues critical to each particular region and the nation. Most conference agendas are created weeks, if not months, in advance and usually allow for only a handful of topics to be covered. Summit organizers took a more unique approach by allowing the agenda to be created in real time by summit attendees, using the open space process.

This process afforded every attendee the opportunity to create their own breakout sessions that focused on pressing, current issues facing their organizations and communities. In the span of four hours, community leaders proposed and participated in more than 50 different sessions on topics including college and career readiness, programs for women veterans, fair housing, immigrant integration, discrimination in hiring, greening schools and the Affordable Care Act.

Representatives from many federal agencies used their organizational and personal knowledge to contribute tremendously to breakout sessions. I was part of a team from the Department of Labor that participated in more than 20 sessions that helped connect the community with our various worker programs and protection agencies.  For example:

• The Federal Program Officer from Region 2’s Employment and Training Administration took part in a breakout session on Comprehensive Training and Employment Services for Ex-Offenders to discuss the department re-integration programs and grants;

• Representatives from our Wage and Hour Division’s Northeast Region and Philadelphia District Offices participated in sessions about Keeping What You Earn to talk about workers’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act;

• In a session about Immigrant Worker’s Rights, staff from our regional and district Occupational Safety and Health Administration offices discussed the agency’s prolific work in reaching out to traditionally- exploited immigrant communities and received great feedback from community members on how to expand those efforts to even more communities where worker safety is a continuous concern.  In this session, staff from both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and WHD connected with a nurse practitioner who served farm workers and plan to work with her to identify injury and illness trends in the industry she serves every day;

• Staff from our regional Veterans Employment and Training Services and other DOL employees involved in contracting and hiring took part in a session about How to Help Veterans in the Use of Educational Programs for a Successful Transition.

It is this ability to directly respond to local needs that made this summit so powerful.  Successfully connecting college students, housing and education advocates, non-profits, small businesses, union members, local elected officials, faith leaders, chambers of commerce and retiree groups with each other and appropriate federal staff in one day is both a testament to the dedication of this administration to reach outside of Washington for ideas and answers, and the passion that front line federal employees have for fulfilling their respective agencies’ missions to help create an America Built to Last.

Robert Asaro-Angelo is the the Northeast Regional Representative for Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

A Delta Built to Last: Community Leaders from Delta Region Visit Washington, White House

In his State of the Union address, President Obama laid out a strong blueprint for an American economy that is built to last.  Right now, the Delta region is poised to build from that blueprint – focusing on creating good-paying jobs, building communities and improving lives.  As President Obama said, “If the playing field is level – America will always win.”  For the Delta, this begins with prioritizing the relationship between education and economic development and giving our communities the tools and resources they need to be on a level playing field with the rest of America as well as the World.  The Delta Leadership Executive Academy is doing just that: bringing together folks from across the region that are working tirelessly make Delta communities competitive, and we have never been closer than we are right now to act as the catalyst that will help America win.