Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker concluded the second SelectUSA Investment Summit, making it clear to the more than 2,600 people from more than 70 markets, that America is open for business. In her remarks, Secretary Pritzker told investors that we welcome more investment to our shores and that there is no better time to invest in the United States. During the two day summit President Barack Obama and Secretary Prtizker announced a number of new initiatives focused on maintaining America’s position as the world’s premier destination for foreign direct investment. 

Following the summit, a bipartisan group of former Secretaries of Commerce, whose tenures spanned from 1973 to 2012, released an open letter urging Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority, a tool that is essential to the completion and implementation of new trade partnerships. Representing past Administrations dating back to Richard Nixon, the former Secretaries of Commerce noted that giving American businesses better access to the 95 percent of consumers living outside the United States is critical to American competitiveness, economic growth, and job creation.

Rounding out the week, Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the appointment of Russell Slifer as the next Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and delivered the keynote address at the National Association of Development Organization’s 2015 Washington Policy Conference in Arlington, Va. In her remarks to NADO, Secretary Pritzker highlighted the impact economic development organizations have on local communities and the work the Commerce Department is doing to support these organizations. She also announced the winners of an Innovation Challenge competition funded by the Economic Development Agency and hosted by NADO and the National Association of Counties.