Doug O'Brien, Department of Agriculture; Jason Miller, National Economic Council; JoAnn Crary, IEDC and Saginaw Future Inc.; Vinai Thummalapally, SelectUSA.
AT WHITE HOUSE: Saginaw Future's JoAnn Crary Moderates Manufacturing Panel
August 30, 2014
By: Dave Rogers
A Saginaw economic development official has reached the pinnacle in spreading the word about mid-Michigan's manufacturing sector.
SelectUSA, in conjunction with the International Economic Development Council
(IEDC), hosted the third-annual White House Economic Development Forum
recently at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
JoAnn Crary, IEDC Vice Chair and President and CEO of Saginaw Future Inc.,
moderated the Manufacturing Panel that provided an update on Administration efforts to support the continuing development of the U.S. manufacturing sector.
Panel members included Elizabeth Wayman, Director, Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, U.S. Department of Energy; Jason Miller, Deputy Director, National Economic Council; Phil Singerman, Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce and Doug O'Brien, Acting Under Secretary for Rural Development, Department of Agriculture.
The panel also offered an opportunity for economic development professionals to highlight their work to strengthen sector-specific hubs, including best practices, challenges, and prospects.
More than 60 of the country's leading economic development professionals convened for a day-long event focused on topics critical to America's long-term economic competitiveness, including: inbound investment attraction, export promotion, workforce development, entrepreneurship, and advanced manufacturing.
The Forum provided Administration leadership with an important opportunity to
highlight priorities related to economic development; solicit feedback from a
unique cross section of dynamic leaders at the state and local level; and
position the White House and broader Administration as a partner and resource
for job creation and economic growth.
SelectUSA, located in the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade
Administration, leads federal-government efforts to promote the United Sates as
the premier global investment destination, and facilitates investment in the
United States.
SelectUSA also provides information assistance to the global investment community, serves as an ombudsman for investors, and advocates for U.S. cities, states, and regions competing for global investment.
The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) is a non-profit,
non-partisan professional membership organization dedicated to helping economic
developers do their job more effectively and raising the profile of the
profession.
The largest professional association serving economic development,
IEDC has a membership of 4,500, mostly located throughout the United States, and
influences many times more in local, state, regional and international
communities around the globe. www.iedconline.org
Established in 1992, Saginaw Future Inc. (SFI) is a public-private alliance of
local businesses, the County of Saginaw, City of Saginaw, 15 local
municipalities and the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce. SFI?s strategic
partners also include education, labor and government. Since its beginning, SFI
has remained dedicated to fostering quality job creation through expansion of
local industry and attraction of new business projects to the community.
www.SaginawFuture.com